15 minutes of weight training. 5-6 times a week. Is this enough to build muscle? Lose fat?

#healthyoffice #healthyhabits #stayactive #15minutes #fitnesshacks

I don’t know but this is the experiment that my wife and I are going to try.

I am a busy project manager and my wife is even more busy looking after our kids and her mother and me! She also thinks ahead and makes sure that everything is planned and in its place.

We love working out and going to the gym. This has been a part of our lifestyle since university. However, with kids, aging parents, church, home and work it becomes all a bit much to balance and maintain a consistent gym going routine. To it all off with the pandemic it was all a bit much.

The thought came to me in the shower can we accomplish all we need to in 15 minutes of weight training at home? Life is busy and when you watch these professional fitness athletes and bodybuilders you get the sense that whether at home or not you need to dedicate 45 minutes to a workout to experience any growth. That simply does not go with our busy lifestyle and I suspect that a lot of people at our stage of life they can relate. Even if you are younger or older you may relate.

I am not a fitness professional, but I do love fitness and particularly weightlifting. I want to share our journey in the case it may help someone else with a way to achieve their fitness goals within their busy lifestyle.

The workout is split over 6 days.

1. Legs

2. Chest

3. Back and biceps

4. Shoulders

5. Triceps

6. Full body

This is the variation I am currently doing. Another one is the following.

1. Legs

2. Chest

3. Back and biceps

4. Triceps

5. Shoulders

6. Full body

In summary the idea is the following:

• about 15 minutes of weight training

The rest between each set is reduced to 20 seconds to not only create a more intense stimulus for the muscles but also to gain some cardio output from this workout. However in the 3rd set, especially starting off if you need to increase the rest period to 30 seconds that is ok.

But is this enough cardio you may wonder? My wife and I do with our kids a 10 minute HIIT workout in the mornings or go for a walk or do an indoor walk , and for mobility and stretching we try to get 3-4 yoga sessions in at night before bed. You could just do some simple stretches though.

All of this together adds to 25-30 minutes of work per day spread out through the day. It is easy to fit that in during 2 slots in a day.

This is our challenge. This is our experiment. Let's see how we do.

My invitation to you is to join us on our journey and let's do this together.