The One-Hour Weight Loss and Strength Training Workout

When I was hired as a personal trainer, I had no experience, no credentials, no supervisors, no peers and two hours to prepare a group exercise class for between 3-12 people who ranged in age from mid-twenties to their sixties. At a previous club where I had worked out, the group exercise instructor just put up numbers on the machines and exercisers followed the numbers, lifting for one minute and then resting for one minute, doing two sets at each of twelve stations.

This set-up seemed boring, and I wanted a chance to do my workout, so I created a class set-up to meet the needs of as many people as possible, challenging each in his/her own way. I believe strongly in the class and believe it provides a good exercise format for people looking to get a good workout in under an hour. In my class, I had men and women in their twenties as well as grandmas doing essentially the same workout.

The class is based on intervals, a popular training method that challenges athletes to train at a higher intensity. Rather than running an 8:00 mile, for instance, the athlete runs four 400m sprints at 90% intensity and rests in between sets, typically at a 3:1 rest to work ratio, depending on the athlete’s training goals.

To create an efficient workout, I combined intervals with the basic concepts of circuit training (going from one exercise to the next with minimal rest) and supersets (working opposite muscle back to back rather than resting) to eliminate “wasted” time. The average person (and by average I mean the guy who I watched at the gym today) walks into a gym and does not warm-up; he does 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions per exercise and rests for one to three minutes in between sets. In an hour, he does 3 sets of 3-4 exercises and ignores warm-ups, cool-downs and cardio.

The Perfect Hour-Long Workout eliminates the rest and keeps the heart rate elevated through the full hour, increasing calorie burn and work rate. However, muscle groups get opportunities to rest and recover without wasting time.

The Perfect Hour-Long Workout is based around a spinning cycle, physioball and dumbbells. However, one can use alternatives to fit their gym/needs.

The Workout
3:00 Spinning
1:00 Lower Body Exercise
1:00 Upper Body Exercise
1:00 Core Exercise
Repeat

That is the basics. The physioball is handy for some of the upper body lifts and core work and the dumbbells are essential so you don’t have to rack weights. The spinning cycle is easy to use and easy to increase and decrease resistance. However, a rowing machine or jump rope would be just as effective. The biggest key is equipment which you can keep together and close to yourself so there is minimal wasted time and effort-at my gym, the spinning cycles were by an open area where one could take a physioball and dumbbells and do the workout without interruption.

The key to the effectiveness of the spinning workout is to increase and decrease the intensity. In each 3:00 segment, I used the first third as a warm-up, the second third to do work (increase the resistance, stand up, speed up), and the final third was up to the individual; they could go back to a steady pace or continue to do work. This is how a group workout became individualized and individuals stayed motivated, as there was a continual challenge to increase the work capacity.

According to researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, spinners who did interval training improved their 30k time trial as much as those who did long 90 to 120 minute steady rides: 12 minutes of all-out cycling sprints = 10.5 hours of moderate cycling, according to the study. “The practical message is that interval-type training can be effective for the general public,” says Martin Gibala, PhD, the lead study investigator. According to Gibala, sprinting increases the body’s production of citrate synthase, an enzyme that helps muscles use oxygen (Men’s Health, p.60).

Furthermore, “a varied pace, like you’d get in a spin class, burns more calories than a steady pace,” reports Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. “For cyclists trying to lose weight, spinning classes can help you lose it faster,” says study author Jie Kang, PhD, of the College of New Jersey (Men’s Health, p. 60).

The basics of the lifts were to train large muscle groups first and work to the smaller muscle groups. During the 1:00, participants varied between 10-25 repetitions, depending on strength, weight of the dumbbell and experience.

The lower body exercises included variations of squats, lunges, stiffed leg deadlifts and calf raises. The upper body exercises hit the major muscle groups with physioball bench press, bent over row, shoulder press, lateral raise, bent over raise, bicep curl, lying triceps extension and others. The core exercises included physioball crunches, bicycles, V-ups, planks, side planks and more.

Through these exercises, you can get a full workout in under an hour with maximal efficiency.