Sally has been going to the gym for a few months now and has been making progress. She spends hours in the gym lifting weights and doing cardio while she watches waves of people come and go.
She’s noticed some of the other ladies that happen to jump onto the treadmill or elliptical beside her are making much better progress and she doesn’t know what she is doing wrong. She’s been cleaning up her diet and eating healthy foods, hitting the weights, and doing hours of cardio but hasn’t seen the progress as the others have.
Sally wonders what she may be doing wrong and starts searching online for answers. We’ve all been there and if you are reading this article, then you’ve come to the right place to get your answers.
It’s not uncommon to see someone spending 2 or more hours a day in the gym and not making much progress. Why? There are many possibilities which include not getting enough recovery, not pushing yourself hard enough, not eating the right types of foods.
I decided to make a 30 minute series workout for each body part that I will create one large workout routine when I release them all. I emphasize 30 minutes because that is how long it is going to take you to finish this workout. If you are currently not utilizing any type of routine, these are great “fill-ins” for the exercises you are already doing for this body part.
The final project will consist of each day broken down per body part, ways to “stack” the workouts so you can do (2) 1 hour days and (1) 30 minute day instead of going to the gym all 5 days.
I will also include an infograph that I would highly encourage you to share on Pinterest and other websites. There are no special tricks to get the body you want other than hard work and consistency.
Check out the other routines in this 30 minute series:
- 30 Minute Series: Back Routine
- 30 Minute Series: Shoulder Routine
- 30 Minute Series: Leg Routine
- 30 Minute Series: Chest Routine
What about cardio?
Hours upon hours of cardio will not get you where you want to be.
There are two ways you can go about doing cardio in the gym:
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – HIIT training is great for fat loss and improves your anaerobic capacity; this helps with your strength and power. An easy to follow sample HIIT circuit would be to run/sprint for 30 seconds, rest for 1 minute and repeat for 15 minutes. That’s right, 15 minutes of cardio and leave.
- Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) – This is the cardio that most people do at the gym; slodge around for hour(s) on the treadmill walking. Do LISS in a 20 minute interval. Push yourself harder than you normally would and get that heart rate up.
Both are great and any activity is highly recommended. The trick to these workouts is to be the most effective with your work and get out of the gym to enjoy life and recover.
30 Minute Series: Arm Routine
This routine works best when you progress and make the best use of each set. This means using enough weight when doing the exercise and striving to add more weight every time you go to the gym.
| 30 Minute Series: Arms | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Concentration Curls | 2 | 15 |
| Cross Body Hammer Curl | 2 | 15 |
| Dumbbell Bicep Curls | 2 | 15 |
| Cable Curls | 2 | AMAP |
| 1 Arm Cable Tricep Extension | 2 | 15 |
| Tricep Kickbacks | 2 | 15 |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 2 | 15 |
| Push Ups | 2 | AMAP |
Workout Tips
- AMAP – As Many As Possible. Consider these all-out sets. Choose something that you can get 12-15 reps and push yourself to get more.
- Strive for progression – Every time you step into the gym, strive to lift heavier or more weight. I promise you won’t get “bulky”
- Get in and get out – Just like the title says, this routine shouldn’t more than ~30 minutes or 45-50 with cardio. The goal is to get in and get out; you will thank me later.
