The No. 1 Exercise Excuse

By Craig Ballantyne

The number one reason people give for not exercising is "lack of time." With work, family, and friends, who has 60 extra minutes to hit the gym? We can blame the aerobics fanatics in the 70s and 80s for this marathon-workout mindset. That's where we got the idea that if we aren't doing a full hour of exercise, there really isn't any point to it.

Recent research has shown otherwise. We now know that, with interval training and strength training, you can boost your fitness, burn fat, and build muscle in only minutes per day.

Here are five ways to get more results in less time:

1. Use a warm-up that works you out. Don't waste 10 minutes walking on the treadmill. Instead, use a total body circuit of bodyweight exercises as a general warm-up, and then move directly into specific warm-up sets for your first two exercises.

2. Use strength-training supersets (two exercises back to back, without rest). Choose two exercises for different muscle groups - preferably completely opposite movements. For example, choose a push-up and a pull-up. That way, one muscle group rests while the other works... and you cut the rest time you need between sets.

3. Pair dumbbell and bodyweight exercises in your supersets. For instance, you could do squats while holding dumbbells. This saves you time at home (you won't need to change the dumbbell weight between exercises) and in the gym (you won't need to fight for two sets of dumbbells).

4. Limit isolation exercises (such as bicep curls and tricep press-downs) in favor of multi-muscle exercises (such as squats, pulls, pushes, and rows). In addition, don't spend more than 10 minutes per week on abdominal exercises. They just aren't worth your time.

5. Finish your workouts with interval training, not a long aerobic session. Recent research shows that you can lose more weight with interval exercises, and intervals take half as much time as traditional cardio.

[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine.

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