Is 30 mins enough?

Dedicating an hour or two of your day to exercise isn’t an option for most mere mortals. Sometimes you can just be too busy! Juggling our work life, family life and social lives is a full-time job – no wonder exercise get pushed down the priorities list. But what if we were to tell you, a 30-minute workout could be enough?

What can you do in 30 minutes? 

Whatever your fitness goal, HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is a great way to go! Whether you’re wanting to lose weight or gain strength. HIIT is a broad term for workouts that involve short periods of intense exercise alternated with recovery periods. Typically, a HIIT workout will range from 10-30 minutes in duration and is seen as a very efficient way of exercising! It is totally adaptable and there are various HIIT workouts to suit your needs.

Build strength in 30 minutes:

30 minutes is more than enough to work all the big muscles groups with a circuit of light weights and high repetitions. Exhausting these muscles through this type of HIIT has strong calorie and fat burning effects while building muscular strength and endurance. The ideal workout could include sets of:

• Press ups
• Dead lifts
• Squats
• Pull ups
• Russian twists

Improve your cardio in 30 minutes:

It’s a myth that you need to sit on the bike or run on the treadmill for hours on end to improve your cardio! 30 minutes of HIIT is all you need to get your heart rate pumping and put your calorie burn into overdrive. The ideal workout could include sets of:

• Burpees
• Skipping
• Mountain climbers
• Box jumps
• Battle ropes

Finding the time

Planning ahead can be extremely helpful when it comes to fitting in time to exercise. If you plan week by week you may be surprised where you can actually fit in the time – especially for 30-minute workouts!

Have you thought about early morning workouts?

Studies have shown that working out in the morning encourages a healthy lifestyle. A good morning workout routine will help cultivate consistency, develop strong self-discipline and improve physical and mental energy!

Did you know?

Morning workouts enhance your metabolism. After a workout, your body burns more calories even when you’re sitting at a desk or driving your car. Even the shortest of workouts can help you burn calories throughout the rest of your day!

If you can’t find time on top of your social/family life, why not combine them with exercise? It’s a great bonding activity, so instead of those brunch dates with a friend or family member so a workout then catch up over a coffee!

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In most cases it’s not about the quantity of time spent working out, but the quality of the workout. For best results, alternate different types of training across days of the week and steer focus according to your own personal fitness goals.

Your ideal workout length depends on everything from your schedule, goals and your fitness level. You need to strike a balance between intensity and time, but in the end, anything is better than nothing!