Gym haters, home trainees, and busy people rejoice, there’s a new style of workout that research shows is super effective, and can get results in less time than it takes to brew up a hotel room pot of coffee.

A new study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research shows that short bouts of bodyweight training is as effective at increasing your fitness level as a traditional HIIT workout, or running at your top speed for 30 minutes.

This confirms what many of us already knew about training – you DON’T NEED AN HOUR TO GET RESULTS.

If you have the right plan and the dedication to put your workouts on the calendar (motivation is overrated) and stick to them you can get amazing results.

The Experiment

Scientists split men up into 3 groups.

1. Tabata Treadmill Runners – This group ran at above their top speed for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds
2. Steady State Runners – this group ran at the most intense level they could sustain for 30 minutes.
3. 4 Minute Bodyweight Tabata Trainees – This group did 20 seconds of maximum effort bodyweight exercises followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds.
   They used jumping jacks, mountain climbers, burpees, and thrusters with 8lb weights.
   

Takeaways

All 3 groups increased their overall fitness levels as well as their V02 Max (the measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense exercise).

The surprising thing was that there wasn’t a big difference between the 4 minutes of bodyweight exercises and the 30 minutes of steady state “hard running”

This is great news for those of use who don’t have time to do a full hour long workout at home or in our hotel room, much less make it to the gym for a full warmup, workout, cooldown, and shower.

Although the experimenters used some pretty standard military grade “calisthenics” exercises, (burpees, thrusters, mountain climbers, jumping jacks) this is a potential area for improvement on the study.

Burpees are hard, yes. But there’s no such thing as doing “Maximum effort” jumping jacks. Even if you’re going as Fast and Furious as possible, they just aren’t a difficult enough exercise to elicit a physical response in just 20 seconds.

The Solution

By using specifically designed bodyweight exercises in conjunction with a suspension trainer or sliders, these exercises can be elevated to a more effective level, as well as training the full body (rather than just legs and shoulders)

And by adding a simple piece of equipment to the mix, you’ll be able to stay engaged with the workouts longer. The men in the study did this same workout for four months. That’s 16 weeks!

It can be hard to stay dedicated to a single program for that long, especially if its:

a) a mentally tough workout
b) the same exact program every time.

By adding in some variance, you can do more than just train different muscle groups. You’ll actually be able to:

• Enjoy the workouts
• Stay dedicated
• Increase the difficulty over the time allotted for better gains
• Experience different exercises
• Create a full body training effect
• Get in shape wherever – and whenever.

Think about more than just the benefit of being able to work out for less time. The real lesson here is that intensity trumps time. So even if it’s only four minutes, or 15 minutes, or the length of a Bod in a Box “Express Workout” bring your game face and do the work with intensity and focus.

And if you’re looking for a home based workout that’s more than just 4 boring ass exercises, I got you. Get my At Home Fat Incinerator Program HERE for FREE.

Tell me how you feel after a week of training with intention and intensity!

SOURCE

1. Schaun, Gustavo, Z.; Pinto, Stephanie, S.; Silva, Mariana, R.; Dolinski, Davi, B.; Alberton, Cristine, L. “Whole-Body High-Intensity Interval Training Induce Similar Cardiorespiratory Adaptations Compared With Traditional High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training in Healthy Men,” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, May7th, 2018 (published ahead of print).