Can you really get a good workout in 5 minutes?

Monday was crazy busy for me. Starting with an adult boot camp at 5:45am and ending with my last one-on-one session at 8pm with all sorts of sessions and meetings in between, I literally had 10 minutes to get in a workout. But you can't really get a workout done in 10 minutes so why bother, right?

Wrong.

I warmed up for 5 minutes with body weight squats, lunges, jumping jacks and jump ropes. 2 rounds of about 30 seconds each just to get my blood flowing, muscles warm (not hard on a 90+ degree day) and lungs open. Then I hit it hard.

Here is the workout I did:
3 rounds of:
100lbs barbell ground to overhead - start with the weight on the ground and end with it overhead using any method you choose (snatch, clean and press, clean and jerk, squat/reverse curl/press, etc)
200 yard shuttle sprint (50 yards out, back, out and back)

5 minutes and 15 seconds.

Is this really an effective workout? Really, what can be accomplished in 5 minutes?

Yes, it is a great workout. Here's why:

1) Something is always better than nothing. Raising your heart rate and contracting your muscles will always have a health benefit over not using them.
2) The exercises chosen utilize all of your muscles. As a general rule, the more joints moving during an exercise the better that exercise is. Multiple joint exercises are called compound exercises. Moving a weight from the ground to overhead requires movement at your ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and elbow joints. You can't get more compound than that. Compound exercises are the most efficient for getting a total body workout. Use them frequently and definitely when you have limited time.
3) Short workouts done at high intensity (repeat....high intensity) will improve your anaerobic conditioning. You know when you're in a rush and forget something at the office and the elevator is taking too long? You have to run up 4 flights of stairs and you're out of breath at the top. You are likely using your anaerobic system. Your body is operating in oxygen deficit. It can only do so for a short period but the more you train in your anaerobic zone the longer you can sustain a high intensity effort.
4) The workout establishes a benchmark for you to try and beat the next time. I recorded my time so that when I do that workout next I have a time to shoot for. Always try to better your best on benchmark workouts.

Here is another suggestion for a short workout. Use the Tabata method. Choose an exercise. I suggest body weight squats, lunges, pushups, pullups, situps or running sprints. Perform as many of that exercise as you can in 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds (just 10 seconds) and repeat that sequence 10 times. That is a 5 minute workout. Remember, when doing the exercise don't sacrifice form for speed but do focus on doing as many reps as possible. I can hold at 21 body weight squats for 10 rounds. I can start at 24 pushups but my numbers tail off as the rounds get higher.

I guarantee you will feel a Tabata workout the next day.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
http://www.activepersonalfitness.com/
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."