Get a Total Body Workout in 15 Minutes

We all know there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything we want to, but if you truly feel like you just don't have enough time to exercise, try to rethink how you exercise. Hitting the gym doesn't always have to be a 2 hour ordeal; in fact sometimes you can stay home (which eliminates commuting time) and get a great workout in as little as 15 minutes! To pull off an effective workout in such a short amount of time, efficiency is important. You'll want to work multiple muscle groups at the same time with compound exercises and you can eliminate time between exercises by performing circuit training.

Compound Exercises

Some exercises are intended to only target a very specific muscle group, while compound exercises engage multiple muscle groups at the same time. Although exercises that target specific muscles can be effective and should be a part of your regular weight lifting routine, when you're strapped for time, rely on compound exercises to get a total body workout quickly.

Push-Ups

The push-up is one of my favorite exercises. It engages basically your entire upper-body: your chest, biceps, triceps, core, and even deltoids. For a standard push-up your arms should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart. To focus on your triceps, move your hands closer together. To really challenge your pectorals, move your hands further apart.

Squats

Squats are able to engage the two largest muscles in your body: your quads and glutes. Working larger muscles requires more energy, which means you'll burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. Speed squats or jump squats will really make your heart rate jump, helping you reap some of the benefits of cardiovascular exercise in a short amount of time.

Chin-Ups

A chin-up bar that goes over your door is a fairly inexpensive home gym accessory, but you can also see if a nearby park has chin-up bars or even monkey bars. To target your biceps, grip the bar underhanded. To target your triceps, grip the bar overhanded.

Lunges

Lunges are another great lower body workout that will engage your quads, glutes and inner-thighs. Increase the difficulty by starting in an ordinary lunge position and jumping up and switching legs in the air.

Circuit Training

Circuit training is easiest to explain with an example: 24 jump squats followed immediately by 20 push-ups followed by 24 alternating leg lunges followed up by 10 chin-ups or 20 wide push-ups. Rest for 1 minute and repeat the sequence until you've reached the 15 minute mark.

The squats work your lower body so these muscles need rest before being used again. However, instead of wasting time while resting, you work completely different muscles with the push-ups. Then, while the muscles you work by doing push-ups are resting, you return to working your leg muscles. This intense sequence will get your heart racing just as if you were doing cardiovascular exercise, you'll save time by eliminating down time between exercises, and you can work out at home! Continue to challenge your body by mixing in different compound exercises from time to time and enjoy the benefits of long gym workouts in only a few minutes!