How To Make A 15 Minute Workout Work

By Kashif Ross on

If you take a tour through any gym, you’re likely to find people grunting, slamming weights, or running on a treadmill. There’s a wide variety of routines, but just because you showed up doesn’t mean you’re getting in shape.

The best way to lose weight can’t be found in any specific diet or workout plan. The answer is within you.

If you want to get the maximum results, you’ll have to put in maximum effort. Besides the grunters and runners, there are always people sitting on the stationary bikes, hardly peddling a couple miles an hour. Others take a gentle stroll on the treadmill. There may be a guy slamming weights, but he takes five minute breaks between his reps. That’s not going to improve your health or get you results.

The prevalence of diseases in the African American community is too high. We have to stop setting goals of finding our ideal body and look for ways to improve our health. To do that, we’ll need more than just toning and building muscle. We have to burn fat and calories.

Clapping your hands enthusiastically for fifteen minutes—and I mean in the most psychotic way where you’re jumping up and down and shaking wildly—can have better health results than walking on the treadmill for an hour. If you want results in the gym, you have to put in the energy.

Here are a few rules to live by:

Don’t take long breaks between sets
If you’re running and moving to another workout, keep jogging or hyping yourself up, and get there as quickly as possible. Don’t let your heart rate fall. Find your zone and stay in it.

Don’t lift weights with huge breaks between
If you’re lifting weights, you want to sweat. If you’re not sweating, you’re probably not getting the results that you think you’ll have. You should only add scheduled breaks between exercises. They shouldn’t be longer than 60 seconds and most should last 30 seconds. Also, don’t sit during your breaks. Shake out your body and do a combination of static and ballistic stretches. *There is an exception to this rule. If you’re lifting extremely heavy weights (close to your 1 rep max) you can take up to three minute breaks. Otherwise, keep them short.

Stop working on one muscle group
Muscle confusion and circuit training get the best results. The reason is because your muscles can’t adjust to your workout. They’re constantly being changed and challenged. Though muscle confusion is supposedly a new phenomenon, it has been around in circuit training for a very long time and works really well.

Change it up
Don’t work on just weights or just cardio. Switch up your workouts constantly. Muscles need around 48 hours for ample recovery after weight lifting, so it’s best to hit the weights one day and work on cardio the next. However, if you’re working on building muscles, you’ll need to limit your cardio. On your “off” days, you should use light weights to help the recovery.

Don’t underestimate what you can do at home
Remember how I said clapping can give you a great workout? It’s true. It may not make you look like the Hulk, but it will help in strengthening your immune system. If you can’t make it to the gym, find something that’s easy to do at home, but it must challenge you. Do pushups and squats; jumping jacks and situps; or anything with the right amount of intensity.

If you want to make a 15 minute workout count, don’t take breaks. Just go in and do your best. I’m not saying 15 minute workouts are better, but if you’re going to let your heart rate fall during a one hour workout, you’ll be better off keeping them short and sweet.

Set reasonable goals during your routine.
Keep an eye on your intensity and effort.
Pay attention to the present moment.
You got this!

Health Health and Fitness

About Kashif Ross

Kashif Ross is a California grown writer. He's obtained two degrees that most people have never heard of, a bachelor's in Social Ecology and a master's in Gerontology. Initially, he used writing as therapy to block out all of life's stressors. Overtime his hobby evolved into a passion that made his spouse a writer's widow. When he's not devoting every spare minute to his "Barcode" series, Kashif can be found jamming out on Rock Band, embarking on adventures with manga characters in his twisted mind, or outside playing hide-and-seek with the sun.