Short workouts

[skit]

Hello all.

 

I have recently moved into a small apartment, with a new work schedule, budget etc. I can no longer go to the gym for 45-1hr each morning as I was doing, in fact I can no longer afford a gym membership at all, and I no longer live near friends with gym equipment. Instead I now have a kettlebell which requires little space and is free. I also have less time to work out, and find myself taking the kettlebell outside 2-3 times per day for a 10-20 minute workout.

 

My question is, are short workouts effective, or should I just make time to do a single 1 hour workout each day or every other day? My aims are strength and muscle tone, not so much muscle mass, but a little of that would be nice too.

[Marcina]

Short workouts are better than no workouts! You can also do some bodyweight exercises too. Maybe think about getting a pull-up bar? Although I don't know if you'd get in trouble for having one in your doorway or not in your place..

But there is still push-ups, and you can get resistance bands (which are cheap) to make your push-ups more challenging. You can also get some free weights. I have some free weights that I use for my workouts when I get too busy to hit the gym.

[cubby2112]

http://www.bodyweightculture.com/

http://www.beastskills.com/

http://www.dragondoor.com/

[skit]

Thanks for the advice! I was looking for some more bodyweight stuff to do. My main concern, though, was whether working out for short periods of time, but more often (several times a day, every day) is as good as one longer workout every other day?

 

I remember hearing something about that you need to get the blood pumping through the area which takes some 10 minutes of working before you actually get any results, is this a myth?

[Marcina]

The 10 minute thing is "warming up". It's recommended that everyone does a 10 minute warm-up before working out to avoid injury. After a warm-up, your performance will be better anyways which will yield better results.