You want to achieve fitness levels that rival your friends, and most importantly, you want to stay in shape. But that desire to keep healthy coupled with a lack of time can make your fitness goals seem unachievable.
If you’re tight on time but ready for real results, our 30-minute workout is your best fitness friend! Each week we’re bringing you tips straight from our
PT Tutor Martin, so you can train even if you’re against the clock!
This week we’re focussing on another effective workout strategy that you can smash through in just 30-minutes! Don’t forget, before you get your sweat on to warm up beforehand to prevent injury and aid recovery. Trust us, your body will thank you for it!
Escalating Density Training (EDT)
EDT will help you improve your body composition, muscular endurance, cardiovascular fitness and balance. Be warned: it’s not for the faint hearted. You will be achy, but you should also find you recover quicker. Unlike most training, the principles of EDT discourage you from reps and sets; you’ll need to focus instead on exceeding your PB for each muscle group, every time. Let’s get on with the workout!
The Workout
If you’re not able to hit the gym, you can complete your EDT workout at home or in the park as you’ll be using your body weight to exercise; it couldn’t be easier to get your workout in!
The Warm Up
These exercises are designed to utilise the full body and mobilise our major engines of the hips and shoulders:
- Perform 3 sets of 10 reps of squats with an overarm swing. Once 10 reps have been completed, rest for 15 seconds and then repeat for sets 2 and 3
- Perform 3 sets of 10 reps of lunges with an overarm swing. Once 10 reps have been completed, rest for 15 seconds and then repeat for sets 2 and 3
- Perform 3 sets of 10 reps of arm circles. Once 10 reps have been completed, rest for 15 seconds and then repeat for sets 2 and 3
Main Component
To increase your heart rate, improve your endurance and prioritise movement bodyweight exercise will all help you get there.
Get your heart rate up and feel the burn by performing the following exercises back to back for a total of 10 minutes and see how many rounds you can complete! If you’re struggling for motivation, go head to head with friends and family to heat up the competition!
- Press ups – 10 reps
- Burpees – 10 reps
- Squats -10 reps
- Walkouts - 10 reps
Once you’ve completed all exercises, for 10 minutes in total, rest for 5 minutes. Then complete the exercises again for 5 minutes – then you’ve completed 15 minutes of high intensity exercise and you’re half way through your workout!
Exercises Explained
The Exercise – Press up
- Starting on your knees, place your hands shoulder width apart on the ground ahead of you and ensure fingers point forwards
- Lift your knees so your body is in a tall plank position, keeping your hips in line with shoulders. Lower your upper body to the ground keeping forearms vertical and loading the pecs and triceps
- Push back up
- Repeat so you’ve completed 10 reps
The Exercise – Burpee
- Start from a standing position with hands by your side
- Jump to the floor so you are horizontal and in a press up start position
- Lower yourself into a press up and as you push back up you must spring into a bottom squat position – make sure this movement is explosive
- From the bottom squat position, perform a squat jump and finish in your starting position with feet together and arms by your side
- Burpee combines the exercises of a plank, press up and squat into an explosive and complex movement
- Repeat so you’ve completed 10 reps
The Exercise – Squat
- Start from a standing position, feet positioned where you feel balanced and eyes gazing forward
- Initiate a hip hinge (sit backwards) and lower yourself to a comfortable range of motion. Ideally hips below knee joint, like you’re sitting in a chair
- Push your feet down to ensure a stable knee and allow slight horizontal lean on torso to prevent hyperextension
- Once you’re in the bottom position, return to standing and repeat for 10 reps
- The key here is to load glutes and hamstrings with the hip hinge, keeping shins vertical, stabilising your knees and shoulders
The Exercise – Walkout
- Start from a standing position with hands by your side
- Lean forward and hinge from the hips so you feel a stretch in the hamstrings
- Place hands to floor and walk them out in front of you until you’re in the top of a press up
- From here hold for a second and walk hands back towards feet and bring yourself back to a tall standing position
- Repeat until 10 reps have been achieved
Recovery
Once you’ve smashed through your workout, it’s important to include a cool down. For the last 5 minutes of your EDT session, take your body through some passive and active stretches and mobilisations to bring your body back to a resting state.
Take a look at
these stretches in last week’s 30-minute workout to keep your body fighting fit!
If you’re interested in taking your fitness to the next level and want to make a career of it – learn more about our Personal Training course here:
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