The 15 Minute Workout

So you don’t have time to exercise. It happens to everyone – those hectic periods in your life when time is so valuable that spending an hour in the gym is simply not a reality. Unfortunately, many individuals cannot achieve a full-body, metabolism-boosting workout without giving at least 60 minutes to their workout.

Guess what? It’s completely possible, for as many as 2-4 weeks, to maintain and even improve your fitness with just one 15 minute workout. How is that even possible? The key is in the effectiveness of the individual exercises. I’m going to introduce you to an exercise that will use 85% or more of your body’s muscles, while inducing a fat-melting metabolism boost and a lean muscle tissue growth response that will put your workout through the ceiling! Combine this with another exercise that works the other 15% of your body…and you’re good to go! While your friends are trying to combine a marathon workout with holiday shopping, social events, kid’s basketball games, and bad weather, you’ll be fit, trim, and completely unstressed.

So now for the magic exercise. I call it The Burner, because it burns out just about every muscle in your body. You’ll understand why if you get a chance to try it! Essentially, it’s a combination of a deadlift, squat-thrust, and overhead press. As a matter of fact, next week’s Trainer Challenge, the weekly kick-butt exercise routine posted at HYPERLINK “http://www.pacificfit.net” www.pacificfit.net, will be this same 15 minute routine.

Choose two dumbbells that you’re able to press overhead 15 times. You’re going to be near or at failure by the 15th rep, and your shoulder strength is going to be the limiter for this exercise, so make sure you choose your weight carefully. Most beginners for this exercise will be in the 10-30lb range.

Set those two dumbbells in front of your feet, with both feet about shoulder width apart. This is the starting position for The Burner: with your arms extended down to the ground and hands holding on to the dumbbells, in a deep crouching position with knees bent, back straight, and *very importantly*, weight back behind you, on your heels.

From this position, kick your feet out behind you, thrusting both feet into the air and out to a pushup position, with your shoulders and wrists over the dumbbells and your hands still attached to the dumbbells, which should still be resting on the floor.

Kick back up to the starting position, then stand up straight with the dumbbells, while maintaining good form. This is easier said than done – your back needs to stay straight, so your knees and hips will have to do most of the lifting. As you stand, you will transfer the dumbbells from the floor and up to your shoulders, so that they are ready to press overhead when in the standing position. Then do it. Press the dumbbells overhead, hold briefly, then bring them, under control, back down to your shoulders.

Return the weight to the floor, again easier said than done, by maintaining the back-straight, knees-bent, weight-on-heels position. You’re now ready to kick out again.

That’s one rep. You must complete 15.

Move *directly* from your fifteenth Burner to a pull-up bar or assisted pull-up machine. Complete 15 pull-ups – ideally switching from a front grip to a reverse grip to a narrow grip. If neither of these machines are available, do standing rows with a cable apparatus.

Go back and forth, from The Burner to the pull-ups, 4 times OR for 15 minutes.

That’s it. You’re done.

By combining The Burner, which works 85% or more of your body’s muscles, with the pulling motion, which works the other 15%, you’ve completed a full body workout that is a perfect combination of both cardiovascular and lean muscle building effort.

For those of you with very little time to exercise during this hectic time of year, swing by the gym at some point during the day and finish this workout. Trust me – you’ll stay in shape until you can get back into your routine. While I don’t recommend 15 minute workouts for an extended period of time, this will definitely be enough to keep you fit and trim for this busy time of the year.

Remember, there are literally dozens more fat-burning, metabolism-boosting secrets that you can have access to when training with Greenfield Fitness Systems. By working with a trainer, you achieve results that far surpass what you can get on your own. As little as 3 months of personal training can expose you to an entirely new workout scheme that changes the way you view exercise and takes your body to entirely new levels. Sign-up today, and you could be started on a brand new, customized program – complete with tips and tricks to literally melt pounds off your body – as early as this week!

Until next time, train smart!

Ben Greenfield

M.S. PE, NSCA-CPT, CSCS

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