Short, Intense workout

[MyEyeIsOpen]

I'm in a bit of a bind.

When I was younger (maybe 17 to 19), I was in phenomenal, ridiculous shape. I worked out almost 3 hours a day, it was sort of my socialization and hobby time. I also ate really well, which is something I still do -- I actually eat better now than I did then, that's not an issue for me. I'm vegetarian, btw, so if you're thinking supplements later in this post, just bear that in mind.

I lost that hard body entirely, and a couple months ago got fed up -- body wasn't toned at all and about 10lbs overweight, so I went on a diet.

Because of my schedule (so I told myself), I didn't work out during this process, but I was successful at losing the weight through portion control. I actually lost 15lbs, so my excess fat is gone.

The issue is that without working out, I also lost muscle and strength. Today I caught site of myself in the mirror, and I realized that even though I am not fat at all, I'm not happy with the shape of my body. I'm not at all built like I used to be.

So I decided to get that back -- but my situation is very different from all those moon ago, when I was a lean 18 year old. I work pretty long hours, have a wife and kids, and side projects, etc.

My goal is to:

1) Do cardio
2) Build muscle mass
3) Achieve muscle tone and overall fitness
4) Do it in 30 minutes or less per day


Ta Da!

So that's my bind... I'm setting any unreasonably short amount of time for myself to achieve my goal. I'm also doing two opposing things: carido and trying to build muscle.

How would you start? Is there some kind of densely packed, intense workout that I could use to achieve my goals?

I'm no stranger to designing workout routines, but this strikes me as impossible, so I wanted to get some help! Thanks!

[Honeywith4bees]

I'm not an expert but, what about bodyweight exercises for your cardio like burpees and then compound exercises like deadlifts done in supersets?

[EnduranceNinja]

How many days a week do you plan to exercise? I think you can get alot done in 30 minutes. You just have to not waste any time and get right to the exercise. Just ideas here: Try to split your strength training to smaller parts, such as arms one day back, then legs, etc. Do crunches before bed time or even better when you wake up. That will save on time. 30 minutes of cardio is enough to show improvement. If you are looking to add muscle mass you need to eat more calories and do more strength training than cardio. Just some ideas.

Good Luck

[MyEyeIsOpen]

Well, I don't have a perfect solution yet, but here's what I've begun doing:

Three days a week I swim laps in the morning, get into work between 7 and 7:30 and I feel great.

Also three days a week (tues,thurs, sat) I wake up at the same time and do push ups (part of the 100 pushup challenge). I'm on week 3 right now.

Swimming takes more like an hour after the commute, but I'll stick with it, it feels good.

[liverpool footballer]

ARR, get pavel tsatsouline's books if possible. They're chocked full of good information and easy to read.

Some information i gained from him is that tone = residual tension. After intense contractions, your body learns to contract the muscles automatically somewhat, sort of like standby mode, giving you the toned look. So one thing would be that your training ought to be intense!

Another piece of information (this one is a lot more common) is that muscle mass is obtained with 6-12 reps but your intensity must be such that anything above 12 would lead to failure or something.

[JAX]

I only spend about 15-30 minutes working out and I am in great shape. I use high intensity levels with minimum rest and I alternate exercises- for example. I'll do 10 pull ups, then 10 dips and back and forth with no rest for 3-4 sets. If you like this style you can learn more through the crossfit website, they have metabolic conditioning workouts which rock. They are intense and fast. You don't have to do the workouts exactly, but you can learn some of the principles and apply them to your own workouts.

Jax

[JSB]

Kettlebells!

[VelociRaptor]

I second Crossfit and you can also look at interval training, be it a spin class or out running.

[BalancedExistence]

My answer is of course kettlebells. And I agree on the looking up of pavel's work. I just wrote an article on the difference between kettlebells and traditional weight lifting. I've also previously written articles on the science behind interval training vs. long slow cardio and about my own kettlebell workouts which last approx. 12 minutes. You can see my own personal results (photos) that I've been getting.

Hope that provides some helpful information.


Stephen

[bradgatewood]

I maintain a website with lots of information like this: Lose weight and build muscle with proper diet and exercise

If you are already lean then you can skip the cardio and just do high intensity weight lifting. You should stick to big compound movements and can utilize supersets to cut the time down. Train your entire body 3 times a week. For example.

Mon/Tue/Wen
Squats 2 sets of 10
Lunges 2 sets of 10
Bench Press 2 sets of 10
Deadlift 2 sets of 10
Standing Press 2 sets of 10
Bent Rows 2 sets of 10

This would hit all the major muscle groups and be something you could get done in about 30 minutes. If you can complete 2 sets of 10 then add weight for your next workout to bring it down to failure at 8. This kind of program will typically add about 10 pounds of muscle in about 3 months if you are just starting out. That extra muscle will fill out your body nicely.