When you’re pushed for time, it’s easy to consider passing up your regular workout routine, especially if you usually take on extended sessions at home or the gym. Fortunately, you don’t have to forgo exercise completely, as this 15-minute session strengthens muscles all over your body and gets your heart racing.
You don’t need a lot of equipment to get started either, just a single kettlebell and a set of dumbbells. If you’re at the gym, choose a load that’ll challenge your muscles but won’t affect your form. But for home workouts, it’s worth investing in a set of the best adjustable dumbbells.
With weights by your side, you’ll be ready to take on this short, effective routine developed by Kacey Russell, a personal trainer with The Fitness Group, who says that “this workout is designed to boost your metabolism and burns calories, promoting fat loss and increased muscle mass.”
“It is an efficient full-body workout that acts as a convenient and flexible option for those looking to enhance their overall cardiovascular performance with a busy schedule, as a 15-minute HIIT workout can provide the same benefits as a long session of steady state cardio,” she explains.
There are nine exercises in the routine, and you’ll do 12 repetitions of each move, with a one-minute rest at the end of the round. You’ll do the full circuit three times to pack a heart rate-raising, core-strengthening full-body workout in just 15 minutes.
Watch The Fitness Group’s 15-minute workout
To get the most from your training and avoid injury, it’s crucial to do each exercise with proper form, even when you’re working to a timer. If you’re just starting, you can follow Russell’s demonstrations to perfect your form as you get stuck into the session.
And although you need weights handy for several moves, there are a few exercises you’ll do with your body weight alone, like mountain climbers and squat taps. And even the weighted ones, you can do without the additional load if you’re new to these moves and want to focus on form first.
For instance, Russell includes kettlebell Russian twists, but you can drop the weight and add it back into the routine later down the line. You can use the same technique with the dumbbell renegade rows and switch them for plank shoulder taps until you’re ready to add the load in.
Many of these are compound exercises, which work several muscles simultaneously, including your core. That’s one reason that the routine is so effective. But it’s also down the the type of training, as the session is structured as a high-intensity resistance training (HIRT) workout.
This is a lot like a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout but with a focus on muscle-building moves in place of cardio exercise. But both techniques are designed to work your whole body, raise your heart rate, and boost your metabolism when you’re tight on time.
Is it good to work out your core?
Russell's routine targets your whole body, but the thing holding it all together is your core — a section of mid-body muscle that connects your upper and lower body, which also includes the rectus abdominis six-pack abs muscle.
Although some people build muscle in this area to develop visible abs (you also need to reduce your body fat for that), there are practical reasons to strengthen your core too, including improved posture and balance.
This is crucial for workout performance, as it'll help you do each move with perfect form, rather than arching your back or dropping your shoulders, but it also plays a role in everyday activities like walking, lifting and going from standing to sitting.
Even outside of movement, there are benefits to a stronger core. If you're sitting down, it's easy to end up arching your back, but improved core muscle can help keep your back straight, and may also improve blood circulation around your body.
And while you may have heard that sit-ups and crunches are what you need to build core muscle (and they can be effective), but you don't need to do intensive abs-focused moves like these if you want to dedicate some time to your core.
Instead, you can do a full-body routine like this one from Russell, alongside the best Pilates exercises for strengthening your core. All you need is a yoga mat and some resistance bands and you're good to go.
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