A Fat-Burning, Muscle-Building 20 Minute Workout – No Gym Required!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m experimenting with a few workouts and diet strategies to lose that holiday weight and get back into fighting shape.

Here is a 20 minute workout I did today that hits the body from all angles, building upper body strength, lower body explosiveness, and excellent cardiovascular conditioning.

Check it out…

[After a long, stressful holiday season , Santa relaxes with Mrs. Claus back at headquarters. photo: fivedollarones]

The (under) 20 Minute Home Circuit Training Workout

• Warm Up – do a set of  rotator cuff exercises, then do a few easy sets of s pushups, pullups, and bodyweight squats.

Then, do three sets of the following circuit, with no rest between exercises or circuits:

Sandbag Clean and Press x 8 – Go pretty heavy here, use a weight that you are comfortable lifting for no more than 12 reps (click here for adjustable diy sandbag instructions)

Towel Pullups x 8

Burpees x 10

Bodyweight Rows x 8 (see details below)

50 Jumping Jacks (active rest before you begin the circuit again)

• Then, the FINSIHER – tabata sledgehammer intervals (20 seconds of intense effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times). Here is a demonstration by Ross Enamait:

Timing the Tabata Interval

There are fancy interval timers that will time both the 20 seconds of exercise and the 10 seconds of rest that make up the Tabata Interval, but I have found a setup with just my simple digital watch that works great.

Here is what I do: I set my countdown timer for 28 seconds. I start the exercise interval right at the 20 second mark, and stop when I hear my timer go off. It then takes around two seconds for me to reset my timer, so once it’s counting down again, I have 8 seconds left before I start my next 20 second interval.

It’s pretty straightforward.

Bodyweight Rows

Bodyweight rows are a great way to complement the horizontal pushing motion of pushups, bench presses, etc. Working both pushing and pulling motions in the horizontal plane will not only help you get stronger, but also keep you from developing overuse injuries that can come from focusing only on pressing motions (bench press anyone?)

Here are a couple pictures showing me doing bodyweight rows using my DIY suspension trainer setup, although today I did them with my new toy: Elite Gymnastics Rings (a review is in the works!)

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Good luck,

-Ian

Other Resources

Here is a great summary of the research behind the Tabata 20/10 interval approach and its benefits.

Check out this Sandbag workout for MMA athletes by strength and conditioning legend Zach Even-Esh

Here is another MMA sandbag workout