Quick Workouts For A Hectic High Speed Life Schedule!

So lately I’ve been getting some great responses to my various posts here on the blog, as well as some great questions in my email inbox regarding my strength training program and my Brandon Richey’s Better Than Steroids ebook. The latest of these inquiries came from a very engaging and astute follower of my site named Chad.

Chad is a typical hardcore gritty busy american dad that is struggling with the usual time factor for getting in some Hulk Smash level training. He emailed me and I responded, but I also told him that he helped to inspire me to write this post, so thanks again for your interest Chad! Keep on reading if you want to know how to get in some quick workouts for serious results!

Limited Time For Training?

So I get this email from Chad telling me that he loves training like a machine, but lately feels that with being a busy dad with a couple of youngsters he is often too drained to get in his training during the very necessary and only available prime time training hour of 5 a.m.. I can say to you Chad that with having kids or not 5 a.m. is a pretty good kick to the balls for anyone wanting to hit the iron first thing at that hour! I hope that made you chuckle at least a little. 🙂

Nevertheless, 5 a.m. or 5 p.m. it seems that everyone has different schedules that allow for different times to train. Look we all have different times available to us to devote to acquiring strength and a mobile body and generally that time is always very limited. Because of this limiting time factor I want to talk about changing your perception of the traditional hour or so type of training session. Yes,I’m talking about quick workouts, but I’m also talking about the practice of movement throughout the day.

Speaking of practicing throughout the day…Hello, My name is Brandon Richey and I have had both knees reconstructed and often fight off tightness of the hips while constantly having to practice some basic fundamental human movements for the sake of maintaining squat function. Yes, believe it or not I am a mortal man, but don’t get cocky! 🙂

If you remember a while back I wrote an article about the influence of joints on one another. You can view that post here. In that post I am basically talking about the very thing that I can relate to everyday based on what I just told you about my knees. I know what you’re thinking…coach is getting off topic! So what does this have to do with answering Chad’s question about fitting in time to train on a high speed schedule?

Well whether or not you have had knee, ankle, hip, some other injury, or if you are just injury free you still have to practice mobility. You see the loss of mobility is THE REAL crippler to health. Without maintaining mobility and function you gradually start to degrade your health over time. In my own personal comparison this is true because of my past knee injuries and I often like to use that as the motivation for me trying to train like my hair is on fire, but the same should be true for someone who may be cursed with a job that requires them to sit for hours on end without being able to optimally use their body to it’s fullest potential.

My point is that practicing fundamental movements (squats, lunges, twists, push ups, pull ups, etc.) is crucial whether you have suffered any past injuries or not. As I told Chad in my response to his email it would be great if we all could have the availability of a fully stocked weight room, a fully stocked fridge containing large amounts of steak and chicken, and unlimited time to pound iron until we’re all blue in the face. I also followed up with that if he (being Chad) or anyone of you ever hit the lottery and we can make that happen then just please feel free to go ahead and hire me on full time and we’ll do just that! 🙂 Trust me, I’m A-Ok with you making me the biggest tax deduction your accountant will ever see after you rake in those Powerball millions.

Once again though what do I mean about practicing these movements? It really is as straightforward as it sounds. For instance, if you work in a cubicle or behind a desk for 8 to 10 hours/day then I literally am talking about taking ONLY 3 to 5 minutes, 2 to 3 times a day to stand up, stretch, and to practice a few squats, lunges, and even a few form perfect push ups. This is valuable because practicing basic moves such as this throughout the day adds up to a respectable amount of volume and you don’t have to go overkill on exerting yourself either.

The body responds to regularity! Let that sink in for a second. Remember if you do something on a regular basis then you will get better at doing it, period. This is why practicing function is a great way to get BETTER AT BEING FUNCTIONAL! Makes perfect sense, right? Of course it does.

Another benefit of this is that if you already have a great baseline of strength for more advanced strength exercises (such as one arm push ups, pull ups, pistol squats, etc.) then this same plan will work perfectly for the execution of these more advanced drills as well. This way you don’t have to lose out on maintaining a high level of performance despite a hectic high speed life schedule. This is truly the definition of quick workouts.

Now having said all of this if you happen to have a bit more time available to break more of a sweat, but still don’t have the time to get an hour of training in, or even 45 minutes then just train for 30 minutes, or even 20 minutes. If you know this is ALL the time you have in order to capitalize from more involved quick workouts then just do the 20 or 30 minutes and stop, or continue on to whatever else you have planned to do on your schedule. It still doesn’t have to stop the frequency of practicing the other movements throughout the day either.

If I know I literally only have a few minutes to get in some training and to break a good sweat I usually devise a more effective plan to ensure I do break a good sweat and am able to get my work in during the very limited time that is available. In cases such as this I usually engage in more complex movements for volume, superset major exercises, or just blast out a circuit. If you are limited on time, space, and equipment then an ass load of burpees within a short period of time always seems to do the trick!

If you are looking for other quick workouts and other killer drills to apply to your quick workouts then make sure you get yourself a copy of my Brandon Richey’s Better Than Steroids ebook today.

Don’t forget that if you also happen to be a fan of the Kindle Readers you can also get yourself a copy right here off of Amazon. In addition to this I’m also genuinely curious as to what you do for your own quick workouts when you are in a time crunch! Please feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the page to the comment box and let me know about your approach. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart my friend.