How to Shorten Your Workouts Effectively
Do an upper-body exercise followed by a lower-body exercise., Take a brief rest between supersets., Try alternating sets if you're overloaded by supersets., Combine upper-body movements with lower-body movements.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Do an upper-body exercise followed by a lower-body exercise.
A superset is based on the idea of working one group of muscles and then immediately working another group of muscles.
You can cut your workout time in half if you successfully incorporate supersets.For example, you might start with push-ups and immediately do a set of squats.
If you wanted to lead with lower-body exercises, you might start with lunges and move directly into shoulder presses.
Typically, you must rest between sets to give your muscles time to recover.
However, rest between sets isn't necessary with supersets because you're working different muscle groups.
Try to combine exercises that overlap as little as possible.
Standing exercises will work your legs and core as well as your upper body, so they are less effective in supersets.
You may benefit from the advice of a certified trainer when you're first developing a superset routine.
They can make sure you're doing all the exercises with correct form and not unduly harming your performance or increasing your risk of injury. -
Step 2: Take a brief rest between supersets.
While the point of supersets is that you don't rest between sets, you still should take a brief rest of between 30 and 45 seconds between supersets before moving on to the next one.During your rest period, try to stay moving – even if it's simply walking in place. , Progressive overload is a problem with supersets, and can lead to reduced performance over the course of your workout.
This is especially true if you're working your muscles to fatigue.Alternating sets work much like supersets, except that you do rest between sets.
For example, you might do an upper-body exercise such as shoulder presses, take a brief 30-second rest, then move to lunges.
Take another brief rest after that set, then move to a different upper-body exercise.
Alternating sets can help you shorten your workout in the same way supersets can.
While you're still taking a brief rest between sets, your rest period doesn't have to be as long since the next exercise you're doing primarily works a different muscle group.
The addition of a brief rest between sets reduces the chance that you'll harm your performance, as you can with supersets, and also has a lower risk of injury.
As with supersets, if you design a routine using alternating sets you want to pair exercises together that have as little overlap as possible. , Another alternative similar to supersets is doing whole-body exercises that work out multiple muscle groups at the same time, followed by brief rests in between.Exercise machines such as rowing machines can give you a whole-body workout in a shorter period of time, enabling you to shorten your workout without losing any benefits.
You also can do compound body-weight or hand-weight exercises without needing a specific exercise machine.
For example, add an arm movement such as crunching or lifting barbells while you do lunges or squats to target several muscle groups at once and shorten your workout.
Using a stability ball is another way to combine muscle groups.
Since your core and lower body are constantly engaged on most stability ball exercises, you can get a good whole-body work out in a much shorter time. -
Step 3: Try alternating sets if you're overloaded by supersets.
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Step 4: Combine upper-body movements with lower-body movements.
Detailed Guide
A superset is based on the idea of working one group of muscles and then immediately working another group of muscles.
You can cut your workout time in half if you successfully incorporate supersets.For example, you might start with push-ups and immediately do a set of squats.
If you wanted to lead with lower-body exercises, you might start with lunges and move directly into shoulder presses.
Typically, you must rest between sets to give your muscles time to recover.
However, rest between sets isn't necessary with supersets because you're working different muscle groups.
Try to combine exercises that overlap as little as possible.
Standing exercises will work your legs and core as well as your upper body, so they are less effective in supersets.
You may benefit from the advice of a certified trainer when you're first developing a superset routine.
They can make sure you're doing all the exercises with correct form and not unduly harming your performance or increasing your risk of injury.
While the point of supersets is that you don't rest between sets, you still should take a brief rest of between 30 and 45 seconds between supersets before moving on to the next one.During your rest period, try to stay moving – even if it's simply walking in place. , Progressive overload is a problem with supersets, and can lead to reduced performance over the course of your workout.
This is especially true if you're working your muscles to fatigue.Alternating sets work much like supersets, except that you do rest between sets.
For example, you might do an upper-body exercise such as shoulder presses, take a brief 30-second rest, then move to lunges.
Take another brief rest after that set, then move to a different upper-body exercise.
Alternating sets can help you shorten your workout in the same way supersets can.
While you're still taking a brief rest between sets, your rest period doesn't have to be as long since the next exercise you're doing primarily works a different muscle group.
The addition of a brief rest between sets reduces the chance that you'll harm your performance, as you can with supersets, and also has a lower risk of injury.
As with supersets, if you design a routine using alternating sets you want to pair exercises together that have as little overlap as possible. , Another alternative similar to supersets is doing whole-body exercises that work out multiple muscle groups at the same time, followed by brief rests in between.Exercise machines such as rowing machines can give you a whole-body workout in a shorter period of time, enabling you to shorten your workout without losing any benefits.
You also can do compound body-weight or hand-weight exercises without needing a specific exercise machine.
For example, add an arm movement such as crunching or lifting barbells while you do lunges or squats to target several muscle groups at once and shorten your workout.
Using a stability ball is another way to combine muscle groups.
Since your core and lower body are constantly engaged on most stability ball exercises, you can get a good whole-body work out in a much shorter time.
About the Author
Jeffrey Cole
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow practical skills tutorials.
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