Recommended 30-Minute Workouts

When scanning the web you'll notice several personal trainers have a recommended 30-minute workout. Yes, in just 30-minutes you can significantly improve your level of fitness. Here's what we found for you:

Dolphin Fitness 30 Minute Total Body Workout
The routine is designed to burn fat and tone muscle. Step by step instructions are provided with illustrations.

The Ultimate 30-Minute Workout
A good intermediate gym-based routine; no illustrations, just text - not really the ultimate workout, but a good workout nonetheless.

WebMD Article: Personal trainer Jonathan Ross, owner of Aion Fitness in Bowie, Md, recommends a workout with two-thirds resistance training and one-third cardiovascular training; 20 minutes of resistance and 10 minutes of cardio.

"People don't need more time, they just need more intensity," he says in the WebMD article. "The body responds more to intensity than it does to the duration of a workout."

A Few Notes
Keep in mind, the longer you workout the more calories you'll burn. Higher intensity workouts for relatively short duration (i.e., 10 minutes) can burn more calories than a long duration workout at low intensity.

As we suggested in earlier posts on this blog, you will burn more calories per minute as you increase your exercise intensity (within your limits and physical condition); your body's metabolism responds in a positive manner to exercise intensity.

For the resistance training, personal trainers recommend routines that cover all the major muscle groups. Many exercise clinics stress using multiple muscle groups and they note that there are numerous exercises for each group. If you don't like a certain exercise, try another one for the same muscle group until you find the one that you enjoy. Focus on the exercises that provide the most benefit for your fitness goals.

How often should you workout?
Workout every other day if at all possible, but working out two days in a row isn't a crime if that suits your schedule. If you get three focused workouts in every week you'll be in great shape in no time!