Get Fit Faster With These Time-Saving Full-Body Exercises
Working out for over an hour is usually not in the cards for busy people. They’ve got too many things to do.
If you are a busy person but still want to see big gains and get a flat stomach, you need to implement more full-body movements in your program.
Why full body moves? Three simple reasons:
- Time Under Tension
- Efficiency
- Variation
Time Under Tension
Time under tension (TUT) is huge if you want significant muscle gains. I’m talking about how long your muscles are forced to contract and hold a weight. The longer your muscles are forced to work, the more micro tears occur inside your muscle fibers.
RELATED: Time Under Tension: The Secret to Building More Muscle
Why is that good? Well, the more micro tears we accumulate, the more rebuilding that has to happen—your muscles get bigger!
Time yourself during a typical set of 10 reps. Your average time will be 15 to 25 seconds. Now step it up a notch and go for 40 seconds with each of your exercises.
Efficiency
I’m not impressed by people who tell me they work out for an hour and half to two hours every day. I get confused. What are you doing for that long in the gym?
I have not had a workout in the weight room last more than an hour in ten years. Even during my college wrestling days, we were always in and out within 45 minutes. Why? Because we got our stuff done.
RELATED: What You Need to Know About Gaining Muscle Mass
Full-body movements allow you to target several muscle groups at once. This cuts down your time in the gym and elicits hormone responses that build muscle and burn fat fast!
Variation
Getting bored with your exercises is a surefire way to hit plateaus and stop making gains. Boredom is never good, and these full body moves prevent that to a T.
When you perform full-body moves, you need to focus because so many different body parts are moving.
RELATED: The Oldest (and Best) Way to Build Bigger Biceps
These moves are fresh, and the variation of style will shock your muscle fibers and give your brain a new stimulus—preventing boredom. Win-Win!
Grab 2 dumbbells. That’s all you need for these sick moves.
Here we go:
- RFE Squat to Hinge
- Dumbbell Lateral Lunge to Overhead Reach
- Man Makers
- Gladiators
- Split Squat to Shoulder Raise
- Valslide Weighted Crawl
RFE Squat to Hinge
How to:
- Get a bench, box or something comfy enough to rest your back foot on.
- Place one foot behind you raised on the bench and stand with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Keeping your chest up, slowly lower your knees and lightly touch the ground.
- At the top, perform an RDL, hinging at your hips and maintaining your posture.
What it works:
- Glutes, quads, core, hip flexors, calves, posture
- This move is glute builder! If you thought Lunges made you sore, wait until you try these out.
Dumbbell Lateral Lunge to Overhead Reach
How to:
- Stand with a dumbbell in each hand and perform a Lateral Lunge (toes pointing forward).
- At the bottom, stay down and raise both hands over your head.
- Bring your hands back down, staying in the low position.
- Drive your foot back and stand up.
What it works:
- Gluteus medius, shoulders, abs, inner groin, hip & ankle mobility
- I love this one for the sake of flexibility and lateral hip drive. Do these 2 or 3 times per week and watch your hips become stronger and more flexible.
Man Makers
How to:
- Start standing holding 2 dumbbells.
- Go right to the floor and hit a Push-Up holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- At the top of the Push-Up, row each arm individually (don’t move your hips!)
- Bring your feet under you and stand up.
- Perform a Bicep Curl, then press your hands over your head.
- Bring the bells back down to your shoulders.
- Perform a Forward Lunge on each leg.
- Repeat
What it works:
- Every muscle fiber in your body.
- Pretty clear why I love this move: it requires a lot of time under tension and you literally hit every muscle fiber with one movement sequence.
Gladiators
How to:
(Think Turkish Get-Up to start)
- Start lying flat on the ground with one hand holding a dumbbell pointed straight at the ceiling.
- Slide your opposite elbow under you.
- Push up to your hand (keeping your other arm pointed straight up).
- Elevate your hips off the ground.
- Bring your feet together and go into a Side Plank on your hand.
- Raise your top leg up, then bring it back down.
- Go back to the starting position.
What it works:
- Shoulder stability, core strength and mobility, obliques
- I love this one for body control. You really have to focus, and your shoulder joint is under constant tension. Great move for athletes!
Split Squat to Shoulder Raise
How to:
- Start in a split squat stance with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Slowly lower your knee, keeping your chest up.
- Simultaneously bring your arms down to your sides.
- Pop back up and extend both legs and arms.
- Come back down and repeat.
What it works:
- Glutes, quads, shoulders, core
- I like this because you have to transfer force from the ground up. If your core is relaxed, you will not be able to get those bells up. Stay strong and keep your core tight, then you got it!
Valslide Weighted Crawl
How to:
- Get 2 Valslides or anything that moves smoothly over a surface (towels on a gym floor).
- Place your feet on the Valslides, grab two dumbbells and get in a push-up position.
- Keeping your body straight from head to toe, start crawling with just your hands (keep your arms straight!)
- Go for 20-30 yards—or any distance that keeps the time frame around 40 seconds.
What it works:
- Core and shoulders
- This move is brutal on your abs and shoulders. Just maintaining the position is tough, but when you crawl with the dumbbells, it just crushes your muscle fibers
There you have it: six simple and super-effective exercises that you need to be doing. Go through them taking 40 seconds for each one.
Try to get in 3 rounds. You will be in and out of the gym in under 30 minutes. Remember you are aiming for TUT, efficiency and variation.
For more workout videos, nutrition tips and anything to do with fitness, check me out on social media!
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Get Fit Faster With These Time-Saving Full-Body Exercises
Working out for over an hour is usually not in the cards for busy people. They’ve got too many things to do.
If you are a busy person but still want to see big gains and get a flat stomach, you need to implement more full-body movements in your program.
Why full body moves? Three simple reasons:
- Time Under Tension
- Efficiency
- Variation
Time Under Tension
Time under tension (TUT) is huge if you want significant muscle gains. I’m talking about how long your muscles are forced to contract and hold a weight. The longer your muscles are forced to work, the more micro tears occur inside your muscle fibers.
RELATED: Time Under Tension: The Secret to Building More Muscle
Why is that good? Well, the more micro tears we accumulate, the more rebuilding that has to happen—your muscles get bigger!
Time yourself during a typical set of 10 reps. Your average time will be 15 to 25 seconds. Now step it up a notch and go for 40 seconds with each of your exercises.
Efficiency
I’m not impressed by people who tell me they work out for an hour and half to two hours every day. I get confused. What are you doing for that long in the gym?
I have not had a workout in the weight room last more than an hour in ten years. Even during my college wrestling days, we were always in and out within 45 minutes. Why? Because we got our stuff done.
RELATED: What You Need to Know About Gaining Muscle Mass
Full-body movements allow you to target several muscle groups at once. This cuts down your time in the gym and elicits hormone responses that build muscle and burn fat fast!
Variation
Getting bored with your exercises is a surefire way to hit plateaus and stop making gains. Boredom is never good, and these full body moves prevent that to a T.
When you perform full-body moves, you need to focus because so many different body parts are moving.
RELATED: The Oldest (and Best) Way to Build Bigger Biceps
These moves are fresh, and the variation of style will shock your muscle fibers and give your brain a new stimulus—preventing boredom. Win-Win!
Grab 2 dumbbells. That’s all you need for these sick moves.
Here we go:
- RFE Squat to Hinge
- Dumbbell Lateral Lunge to Overhead Reach
- Man Makers
- Gladiators
- Split Squat to Shoulder Raise
- Valslide Weighted Crawl
RFE Squat to Hinge
How to:
- Get a bench, box or something comfy enough to rest your back foot on.
- Place one foot behind you raised on the bench and stand with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Keeping your chest up, slowly lower your knees and lightly touch the ground.
- At the top, perform an RDL, hinging at your hips and maintaining your posture.
What it works:
- Glutes, quads, core, hip flexors, calves, posture
- This move is glute builder! If you thought Lunges made you sore, wait until you try these out.
Dumbbell Lateral Lunge to Overhead Reach
How to:
- Stand with a dumbbell in each hand and perform a Lateral Lunge (toes pointing forward).
- At the bottom, stay down and raise both hands over your head.
- Bring your hands back down, staying in the low position.
- Drive your foot back and stand up.
What it works:
- Gluteus medius, shoulders, abs, inner groin, hip & ankle mobility
- I love this one for the sake of flexibility and lateral hip drive. Do these 2 or 3 times per week and watch your hips become stronger and more flexible.
Man Makers
How to:
- Start standing holding 2 dumbbells.
- Go right to the floor and hit a Push-Up holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- At the top of the Push-Up, row each arm individually (don’t move your hips!)
- Bring your feet under you and stand up.
- Perform a Bicep Curl, then press your hands over your head.
- Bring the bells back down to your shoulders.
- Perform a Forward Lunge on each leg.
- Repeat
What it works:
- Every muscle fiber in your body.
- Pretty clear why I love this move: it requires a lot of time under tension and you literally hit every muscle fiber with one movement sequence.
Gladiators
How to:
(Think Turkish Get-Up to start)
- Start lying flat on the ground with one hand holding a dumbbell pointed straight at the ceiling.
- Slide your opposite elbow under you.
- Push up to your hand (keeping your other arm pointed straight up).
- Elevate your hips off the ground.
- Bring your feet together and go into a Side Plank on your hand.
- Raise your top leg up, then bring it back down.
- Go back to the starting position.
What it works:
- Shoulder stability, core strength and mobility, obliques
- I love this one for body control. You really have to focus, and your shoulder joint is under constant tension. Great move for athletes!
Split Squat to Shoulder Raise
How to:
- Start in a split squat stance with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Slowly lower your knee, keeping your chest up.
- Simultaneously bring your arms down to your sides.
- Pop back up and extend both legs and arms.
- Come back down and repeat.
What it works:
- Glutes, quads, shoulders, core
- I like this because you have to transfer force from the ground up. If your core is relaxed, you will not be able to get those bells up. Stay strong and keep your core tight, then you got it!
Valslide Weighted Crawl
How to:
- Get 2 Valslides or anything that moves smoothly over a surface (towels on a gym floor).
- Place your feet on the Valslides, grab two dumbbells and get in a push-up position.
- Keeping your body straight from head to toe, start crawling with just your hands (keep your arms straight!)
- Go for 20-30 yards—or any distance that keeps the time frame around 40 seconds.
What it works:
- Core and shoulders
- This move is brutal on your abs and shoulders. Just maintaining the position is tough, but when you crawl with the dumbbells, it just crushes your muscle fibers
There you have it: six simple and super-effective exercises that you need to be doing. Go through them taking 40 seconds for each one.
Try to get in 3 rounds. You will be in and out of the gym in under 30 minutes. Remember you are aiming for TUT, efficiency and variation.
For more workout videos, nutrition tips and anything to do with fitness, check me out on social media!
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