I do the best I can to have as many of those days as possible, but there are days when time gets away from me and I’m left scrambling to get everything done.  Time always seems to be my biggest nemesis, there’s never enough of it and so the only way to have a productive day is by doing things that are time efficient and effective.

That’s why I’m a huge fan of high intensity interval training, because of it’s the most efficient and effective method to get lean and fit.  This is why I based my entire fitness program around it.  And I haven’t seen (or tried) any other training methods that comes close…and trust me I’m always looking and experimenting (...my job hazard).  If there’s a better way, I’m on it.  So when I saw a study that claimed doing one extended sprint session is better than doing multiple interval sprints, I was immediately intrigued.

The study found that doing one 2 minute high intensity workout increased insulin sensitivity and burned more fat than doing four 30 second sprints with 4:30 min rest intervals for a total of 20 minutes.  (Basically doing the same amount work in less time…hmmm…seems awfully like my MAX Workouts protocol)

Although the study is far from perfect, since it only compares 2 types of high intensity training protocols on sedentary individuals, the results are still very encouraging.  It would be interesting to compare a well known high intensity interval training method like the Tabata protocol (which is 20 sec all out sprint alternated with10 sec rest interval repeated for a total of 4 minutes) to doing one extended 2:40 sprint session which is the total work time for the Tabata protocol, in athletes or active individuals.

Whether you’re doing multiple short intervals or one long sprint session the result of this study is further evidence that short high intensity workout is still by far the best way to burn fat and get lean and fit.

It’s important to keep in mind that fitness is more about intensity rather than time.  So no matter how hectic your day is, you can still manage to fit in an effective workout.

Now for if you’re super crunched for time and you can’t do the daily workouts as is, you can always cut the workouts short.

Let’s say you only have 10 minutes.  Here’s what I would do…

Warm up by doing 3 basic exercises of your choice.  Perform 10 reps per exercise and go from one exercise to the next for 2 minutes non-stop.  My go to exercises are air squats, push ups, pull ups or inverted rows.  This is usually enough to get my muscles warmed up and heart rate elevated enough to start the workout.

Choose a daily workout that requires very little equipment… preferably one set of dumbbells.  This way you don’t waste anytime having to changing weights.  If possible choose a workout that only has 2 exercises (3 at the most).  Less variety is better for 2 reasons… (1) it’s easier to remember & perform the exercises and (2) it fatigues your muscles quicker providing the necessary stimulus your body needs to create the “EPOC” effect you’re after to burn more fat.

Change the format of the workout to AMRAP, which stands for As Many Rounds As Possible.  For instance if there’s 2 exercises in a workout, perform the exercises for a given number of reps, one after another with no rest and continue this for as many rounds as possible in the time you have.  Take a short break as needed, but the idea is to exercise as much as you can in the time given.

If you can’t find a daily workout to modify here’s a quickie that I use quite often…

• 10 Reps of Squat Press Ups

• 10 Reps of Deadlift High Pulls

As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes.  Warm down for 3 minutes for a total of 10 minutes (including the 2 minute warm up).

Honestly the exercise & workout options are endless.  Just keep in mind that as long as you’re working out with intensity, time is irrelevant.