Wondering how to strength train in less time? Sure, it’s great if you can carve out time regularly, but what if you’re short for time? While I do encourage you to take the time and use different methods to train, I have tips for those chunks of time that you just can’t make the time. Let’s dig in!
1. Use compound movements.
My biggest hack is to use compound movements, not isolation movements. These are the movements that utilize multiple muscle groups, like a squat, deadlift, push ups or pull ups. These focus on multiple parts of the body at once, so you get more bang for your buck, rather than concentrating on individual muscles groups, one at a time. Biceps cursl? Well, if that’s your main goal–huge biceps–then go for it. Otherwise, that’s one muscle group and less calories being burned as you work. Stick to the compound movements for your general fitness and getting more out of your time.
2. Use supersets for some exercises.
This is a training strategy that allows you to train two different or opposing muscle groups back-to-back, with no rest in between, then take your rest period. For example, you could do squats, then shoulder press (one upper body and one lower body exercise each). You could also do something like biceps curls, then triceps dips (two opposing upper body muscle groups). This allows you to train two exercises in about the same amount of time as it takes to train one exercise the traditional way. I will say, if your goal is strength and power, supersetting is probably not the best strategy, because you’ll be taxing yourself and not allowing for a full recovery. You can always compromise and, if you’re using some accessory exercises like biceps curls and triceps work, superset those, and allow yourself full recovery for the main lifts that you do first.
3. Focus on your goal, first.
For example, if you’re a runner and strength training to help your running, you would be better off doing a few sets of heavy squats or lunges than throwing together a bunch of exercises and pumping those out. By doing your squats, you’re working on the lower body and strengthening it for the rigors of running. So, while your workout is short and not as complete as you would like, at least you’re doing something that translates into your sport and helps move you toward your main goal. Do this temporarily until you can give yourself the time you need.
4. Do a dynamic warm up.
Skip the stretching. In fact, you should always skip the stretching before your workout. Save the static stretching for after the workout, when you’re nice and warmed up and ready to increase your flexibility without pulling a muscle. A dynamic warm up is what you want. It keeps you moving through full ranges of motion or increased ranges of motion until you’re going through the full range. It brings up your heart rate, allows heat and increased blood flow to come to your tissues to warm up the tissues and joints, and helps prepare your body for generating power and strength. Ideally, dynamic stretching uses movements that are similar to the workout or sport you’re preparing to do, but a general, overall warm-up is always great.
So there you have it! If you’re wondering how to save time in your strength training routine for a while, here are some tips to help you shorten that workout!
Want to learn how to train for your goals? I’d be happy to help! You can learn more about my 1:1 strength training programs below.