15 minutes may not seem like enough time for a full training session/workout/battle roy-ale (or whatever you call your designated exercising time).
But, just like we can eat smaller meals instead of big meals, we can string together more frequent workouts rather than fewer, longer sweat-fests if it suits us better.
These are benevolently referred to as "workout snacks."
Many of you people ("what do you mean, 'YOU people?...'") are quite busy, stressed, and possibly even tired throughout the day.
I hear you.
But I'm not willing to give up on you!
I think this all or nothing mindset that surrounds the fitness industry is a net negative.
Fitness shouldn't be all or nothing. It should be a piece of everything.
I'm going to share a few 15 minute workouts. Some of these are more conditioning focused, while others are more hypertrophy focused.
None of them will require much equipment.
All you'll need is your bodyweight, a kettlebell or 2, or a couple of dumbbells. If all you have is bodyweight, then do the bodyweight-only routines, or should I say snack – yes, I should say snacks.
The beauty of 15 minute workouts is you can do them more frequently and without sapping as much energy. This may be important if energy is little and hard to come by for you, or, if you must conserve as much energy as possible for other tasks.
You can string together multiple 15 minute workout snacks per day if you wish, or you can just commit to doing at least 3, 15 minute workout snacks per week.
Since the sessions are so brief, I'd encourage you to aim for a 15 minute workout snack every day, or at least 5 days a week. If you were paying me for results, that's what I'd contractually oblige you to do – 5-7 days per week of 1, 15 minute workout per day.
Since most of you are not paying me, you are under no contract to do what I say. But I encourage you to take the road that will produce the best results possible, even if you have extremely limited time and equipment to train.
"Hey bro, what if I want to mix in some quick, 15 minute workout snacks on rest days or to supplement my current lifting plan? Can I also do some of these snacks?"
Hey bro, thanks for the question! Of course YOU, too, can benefit from some additional 15 minute workouts. Throw them in at the end of your current sessions, throw them in as a warmup before your current sessions, or, what I like to do is do them on rest days to keep active and get a little sweat and a little pump – it makes me feel good and keeps me sane, which benefits the community and myself.
Many of you probably lift weights for around 30-60 minutes 3-4 days per week. That's fantastic. You could easily supplement those workouts (if you want) with 2-3 days of quick 15 minute workout snacks on your rest days, turning these rest days into "active recovery" days or "conditioning" days. If you suffer from a nagging itch to train every day, medicating with daily quick workout snacks will take care of that itch for you without negatively impacting your recovery.
Verbiage key:
All workouts will be as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 15 minutes.
A1 = 1st exercise in the circuit or superset
A2 = 2nd exercise in the circuit or superset
A3 = 3rd exercise in the circuit
A4 = 4th exercise in the circuit
A circuit is 3 or more exercises performed back to back to back.
A superset is 2 exercises performed back to back.
On all routines, rest between exercises and rounds as needed.
Squats can be bodyweight, goblet, front squat, dumbbells, kettlebells, whatever you have.
Lunges can be reverse or walking.
Presses, rows, curls, etc can be done with whatever equipment you have available, but kettlebells or dumbbells would likely be ideal.
Here's the list:
Snack 1:
1 hand or 2 hand kettlebell swing OR kettlebell snatches: 10 reps for as many sets as possible in 15 minutes
Snack 2:
A1: kettlebell snatch-10 reps left, 10 reps right
A2: kettlebell swing-10 reps
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 3:
A1: goblet squat or kettlebell front squat-5-10 reps
A2: pushup-10-20 reps
A3: kettlebell swing-10 reps
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 4:
A1: goblet squat or kettlebell front squat-5-10 reps
A2: kettlebell military press-5-10 reps
A3: kettlebell swing-10 reps
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 5:
A1: pullups or rows-1-5 reps (5-10 reps if rows)
A2: pushups-10-20 reps
A3: lunges-8-12 reps per leg
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 6:
A1: pullups or rows-1-5 reps (5-10 reps if rows)
A2: military press-5-10 reps
A3: lunges-8-12 reps per leg
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 7:
A1: bicep curl-8-12 reps
A2: skull crusher or diamond pushups-8-12 reps
A3: physio ball leg curl-8-12 reps
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 8:
A1: squat-8-12 reps
A2: clean & press-5-10 reps
A3: pullups or rows-1-5 reps (5-10 reps if rows)
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Snack 9:
A1: pushups or overhead press-10-20 if pushups, 5-12 if overhead press
A2: squat or lunge-6-12 reps
A3: pullups or rows-1-5 reps if pullups, 6-12 if rows
A4: kettlebell swings (single arm or 2 arm)-10-15 reps
(Amrap 15 minutes)
Those 9 should be enough to get you going. Technically, it's a bit more than 9 because you could do the same routine but with the alternative exercises.
I recommend picking a few of these that you like and rotating through them.
Or, better yet, do all of them. Start with Snack 1 and work your way through Snack 9 before repeating the workouts at Snack 1. If you were to train 5 days per week, that would give you almost 2 full weeks of programming without repeating the same session. And you'd be done with your daily training with just a 15 minute investment.
This leaves you practically no excuse.
Get after it.
If you do these as your sole fitness plan, aka, you become a 15 minute WOD (workout of the day) Warrior, reach out and let me know if I can be of assistance. Even better – if you commit to these 15 minute snacks and get positive results, let me know so I can feel good about myself.
If you do these 15 minute snacks as just a supplement to your lifting programming, please also reach out and let me know how things are going.
As always, thanks for reading and supporting. And happy hoisting!
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