If you’re busy and stressed and need all the free time you can get, or you’re just trying to establish the habit of working out and are tired of committing to a full gym schedule, this is the routine for you. It needs to be done only twice a week, and can be completed in well under an hour. As you’ll soon find out, that’s plenty of time to change your body.
If you asked us, “What’s the least amount of work I can do in the gym to see results?” we’d hand you this program. It’s just five exercises but trains the whole body.
You have only two set and rep schemes to remember: six sets of four reps and three sets of eight. Both add up to 24 total reps—a good volume goal for muscle and strength gains—but with vastly different effects. The four-rep sets target strength, while the eight-rep sets maximize size gains. Each session, you’ll switch them around so your body never has a chance to adapt. Your workouts may not take more than 45 minutes, but every one of them will count.
Directions
Perform the workout twice a week, changing the sets and reps each session. The first time you do the routine, perform it as written. The next time, switch the sets and reps—that is, exercises you did for six sets of four reps the first time will now be done with three sets of eight, and vice versa. Rest three days between sessions.
Perform the exercises as straight sets. On the exercises you do for six sets of four, choose a load that allows you six reps on your first set but perform only four.
