Three 20-minute workouts: whether you're starting out, adding muscle or losing fat, one of these workouts will fit the bill in 20 minutes - Total-Body Gym Training

Men's Fitness, Sept, 2002 by Roy M. Wallack

20 minutes ...

* is the amount of time it takes to prepare a DiGiorno frozen pizza.

* equals the long-distance minutes you'll get for a buck if you dial 10-10-321.

* is enough time to realize that the latest installment of The Real World blows, again.

* represents about a tenth of your girlfriend's "little talk about our relationship."

* is plenty of time to get in a great workout, whatever your training goals.

Most guys will agree with the first four predicates, but don't consider 20 minutes long enough to get in a lifting session that offers acceptable benefits. They think a great workout requires up to an hour, and even more, of serious pumping. So they don't bother to train when time is short.

Big mistake.

20 MINUTES TO MORE MUSCLE

"You can absolutely get a good weight workout in 20 minutes," says Greg Florez, president of First Fitness, a national personal-trainer network based in Salt Lake City. "In fact, 20 minutes not only makes sense for a busy schedule, but current research shows it's plenty of time to stay, or get, in shape--if you actually work out, that is."

Translation: Shooting the breeze, checking out women and admiring yourself in the mirror can turn a brisk 20-minute session into one hour of needless, unproductive gym time. So why not cut the crap and do a solid 20?

"Don't get me wrong," says Florez. "There's no miracle here. You're not going to become Mr. Universe by relying on 20-minute training sessions. Building big muscle requires volume, and that requires time. But there's little doubt that 20-minute sessions can yield a host of benefits--including enhancements in strength, size, stability, mobility, flexibility and posture, plus upgrades in your energy system and work capacity." But Florez adds a caveat: "You must exercise with intensity and logic."

Intensity is the only variable in the traditional FIT formula--Frequency, Intensity and Time--that can be controlled with an abbreviated workout schedule. Intensity simply means that you work hard. Whether you do eight, 12 or 15 reps in a set, you do the set to failure--the point where you can't do another rep without breaking form.

"Logic," as Florez means it, refers to a workout that consists of the right combination of exercises executed at the right speed. We're talking about alternating multiplane, multijoint compound movements that hit the body's largest muscle groups with complementary exercises, with little rest in between. Correctly sequencing the moves allows you to squeeze in as many of them as possible. Perform the exercises in pairs: (1) upper body-lower body and/or (2) push/ pull. This gives one muscle group a chance to recover while the other is put to work.

Finally, while cardio is conspicuously absent from a 20-minute resistance workout, aerobic benefits don't have to be. Rapidly cycling from one exercise to the next can keep your heart rate rapping above 120 beats per minute, a significant threshold. While not truly aerobic, 120 beats per minute will produce a measurable amount of heart-rate response, important for maintaining cardio conditioning.

Suddenly, a 20-minute routine is starting to sound better and better, isn't it? Or maybe not, since it deprives you of your final excuse for skipping workouts.

THREE 20-MINUTE WORKOUTS

These three workouts, designed by Greg Florez, accommodate three types of men: those new to weight training, those focused on losing weight, and those aiming for a hard body. Plus, any one of the workouts can be used whenever gym time is limited.

Whichever workout you choose, the goal is to reach momentary muscular failure by the final repetition of a set. When you can complete all reps for both sets of an exercise, increase the poundage at your next session.

FAT-BURNING WORKOUT

Goal: Increase metabolism while building lean muscle mass so as to maintain optimal calorie burning all day long.

Overall strategy: Perform complex exercises that work large muscle groups; do high reps (15 at around 70 percent of your one-rep maximum) and take very little rest between exercises. This approach produces immediate short-term calorie burn and builds maximum muscle mass, which in turn generates long-term calorie burn.

Frequency: Three times per week with at least a day's rest between each training session.

GYM WORKOUT 1

EXERCISE          SETS   REPS

Lunge/dumbbell
  curl/shrug       2      15
Shoulder press/
  kick-back        2      15
Reverse-grip
  pull-down        2      15
Dumbbell squat     2      15
Bench press        2      15
Bicycle crunch     2      15
Superman           2      15

THE EXERCISES

1. LUNGE/DUMBBELL CURL/SHRUG (quadriceps, hamstrings, biceps, trapezius) Holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, stand erect with your head up and your back in its natural alignment (1a). Step forward with your left leg until your left knee is bent 90 degrees and your right knee almost touches the floor. While advancing, curl the dumbbells up to shoulder height without moving your elbows (1b). Return to the starting position and shrug your shoulders toward your ears (1c). Repeat the sequence, leading with your right leg.