Maximum Workouts In Minimum Time

QUESTION: I have a problem I’m hoping you can help me with. I recently graduated from college and started a full time job, plus I’m taking night classes twice a week to start on my Master’s Degree. With this full schedule I don’t have much time to workout Could you outline an effective program that will hit all the major muscle groups that I can do in an hour or less? I’m interested in gaining size and strength as well as maintaining athletic ability. I’ve got a barbell set, squat rack, bench, dip and chin bars in my garage so I can save some time not having to drive to a gym if that basic equipment will do the job.

ANSWER: Congratulations on graduating from college and on starting work on your Master’s Degree. If you read Natural Champion regularly you know we’re about total fitness – the body/mind/spirit connection. The people we feature in our Introducing… column are not only very physically fit, they have lives outside the gym – families, jobs, businesses, hobbies, etc. With the drive you apparently have, and your desire to maintain a high degree of physical fitness, you might just be a future column waiting to happen!

Here’s a Basic Eight Routine that should work well for you – eight basic exercises that literally hit every muscle group in the body and that can be done in under an hour.

Squat. Be sure to do these to at least parallel or below.

Walking Lunge. Since you’ll be doing these with a barbell, be very careful to use precision form for safety. Step out with one leg, bring the trailing leg up, pause, and alternate legs.

Stiff Leg Deadlift. Do these slowly and with strict form. Though the name implies locked knees, we recommend that you do these with knees slightly unlocked, or ‘soft’.

Bench Press – or Incline Press. Either exercise will work the chest, shoulders and triceps but we favor the incline version as it hits the upper chest more.

Bent Over Rowing. A great all around back exercise. Keep your knees bent for low back safety and pull the bar to the abdomen.

Clean & Press. This is an ‘old school’ exercise that will work the back, traps, shoulders and triceps. With every rep you’ll pull the bar to the shoulders, press overhead, lower to the shoulder then back to the ground and repeat.

Dips. A super exercise for triceps, chest and shoulders.

Chin. Do these with a regular ‘curl’ grip. Great for the biceps and lats.

As far as sets and reps, I’d recommend 3 sets of each, 12-10-8 for the lower body exercises (Squats, Walking Lunges and Stiff Leg Deads) and 10-8-6 for the upper body exercises. Your first set will be a light warm up, your second set will be about 80% of max, and your final set will be an all-out effort. Your routine would look like this:

Warmup Abdominal Crunches 2 sets of 15

Thighs/Hamstrings/Glutes: Squat – 12/10/8

Thighs/Hamstrings/Glutes/Calves Walking Lunges – 12/10/8

Hamstrings/Low Back Stiff Leg Deadlift – 12/10/8

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps Bench Press – 10/8/6

Back/Biceps/Forearms Bent Over Row – 10/8/6

Back/Traps/Shoulders/Triceps Clean & Press – 10/8/6

Triceps/Chest/Shoulders Dips – 10/8/6

Biceps/Upper Back Chin – 10/8/6

As an alternate routine, you could workout 4 days per week, doing lower body one day, upper body the second day, take a day or two off and repeat. The fact is, you don’t have to be a gym rate to have a terrific, powerful, functional physique. You just have to train smart and hard.

Hope this helps. Write and let us know of your progress.

Charles Hawkins (pictured) with Arley Vest

www.naturalchampion.net

Charles Hawkins & Arley Vest