Constantly have you eye on the clock? These workouts are for you. Photo: Shutterstock.
Ever notice how tough it can be to workout while traveling? I used to think that I needed to block out a huge chunk of time to workout. While away from home, I just never seemed to find the time.
But then I learned about dumbbell complexes, and now the travel workout game has changed. In fact, I even do a lot of these workouts when I’m home as well. If you ever tell yourself you don’t have time to workout, this blog post is for you. 20 minutes is all you need! Seriously. That’s it.
This came in handy this past weekend when we were traveling, and I knew time was tight. Even still, I found 20 minutes and did the below dumbbell complex. Whenever I’m limited to a short amount of time to train, it’s my go-to workout.
Why are dumbbell complexes so effective? Dumbbell complexes are awesome because they burn tons of calories, release fat burning hormones, and help you keep muscle tissue – all in a very short amount of time. If you’ve never done a dumbbell complex, then you’re in for a treat!
Of course as you most likely already know, losing fat is mostly determined from what you do in the kitchen. There is no avoiding that reality. But the exercise piece of the fat loss equation still matters. Make sure you’re doing the right kind of exercise for fat loss.
A few basic conditions should be met when performing workouts for fat loss:
-Intensity should be high
-Rest periods should be low
-Involve big muscle groups with compound moves (squats, deadlifts, rows) and avoid isolation moves (bicep curls, leg extensions, shoulder raises)
These 2 workouts satisfy that above list.
DB Full Body Complex
A complex refers to doing successive exercises back to back with little to no rest in between exercises. The goal is to never place the dumbbells done so you move right into the next exercise without rest. Complexes are one of the most efficient fat loss workouts. If you’ve never done one, these are hard. It’s only about 15-20 minutes of work, but it’s very intense.
Instructions
1) 5 minutes Mobility / Dynamic Stretching Warm up
2) Grab 1 pair of moderate to heavy dumbbells. You want to use a weight that makes the last 2-3 reps of each exercise challenging. This is very important to make these complexes as efficient as possible. If you’ve never done a complex before, start on the lower end of the weight range. Weight Range for each Dumbbell (you’ll need 2 dumbbells total):
-Women – 10-30 lbs for each dumbbell depending on fitness level
-Men – 30-70 lbs. for each dumbbell depending on fitness level. For reference, I used a pair of 60lb dumbbells.
3) Perform each exercise for given reps. Move to the next exercise with as little rest as possible. Rest for 2 minutes after you complete the 4 exercises. Repeat 4 more times for a total of 5 rounds, or 20 minutes, whichever comes first.
–DB Goblet Squat x 10
–DB Rows x 10 (each side)
–DB Deadlift x 10
–Swiss Ball Stir the Pot x 10
-Rest 2 minutes
Fat Loss Workout #2: Stationary Bike Intervals
If you don’t have access to dumbbells, here’s another great fat loss workout. Again, it’s short and intense. Hop on a bike and warm up at an easy pace for 5 minutes.
Increase the resistance and pedal at 80% of your max for 30 seconds. At the end of the 30 seconds you should be working very very hard.
Reduce resistance level back down to easy pace for 30 seconds. This is an active rest period. The idea with the rest period is to recover and get ready for the next work period.
Repeat this 30 seconds work / 30 seconds active rest for 15 minutes.
I used a resistance of level 17 for the 80% portion and a level 5 resistance for the active rest period.
Train Smarter, Not Harder
I hope you get to give one or both of these workouts a shot. The best thing about these workouts is that they are both only 2 minutes long. That’s it. If you’re doing the right type of exercise, workouts don’t have to take forever. It’s about working out smarter, not harder.
For more from Nick, check out Saltwater Fitness.
