30 minute programs for those who are busy

Contents

Three in one
Fundamentals 5-8-12: Before Starting
Workout 5-8-12
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Living in a frantic pace does not leave you time for training? Don’t be discouraged, you can easily shorten your workout time without sacrificing anabolic stimuli. Workout 5-8-12 will show you a new way to train at an accelerated pace.

Author: Bill Geiger

Time is somewhat like money – there is always an opportunity to use it a little more efficiently, and even much more efficiently. The only problem is that there are only 24 hours in a day, and it is not so easy to find a window for a quality workout in your busy schedule. The good news is you don’t have to sacrifice anabolic stimuli. Turn up your RPM, train smart and get the same results in less time!

I’m going to show you how to make a shortened 30 minute workout as effective as any long session. Of course, it would be nice to be in the gym for 60-90 minutes every day, but who has time for this?

Shorter training sessions are strength gains and multi-rep pump in one vacuum package. You can jump into the gym, get a great result and quickly return to the list of remaining things to do.

Three in one

The idea behind these workouts is simple: you do three exercises in each workout, and each exercise serves a different training purpose. The purpose of the first exercise is to develop strength, and this requires heavy sets with only five repetitions. In the second exercise, you target hypertrophy and finish 8-10 reps. And in the third, you pursue the muscle, for which you need not only to raise the number of repetitions (12), but also to perform a burning sensation in the muscles.

The last exercise of each workout is not aimed at stimulating a deep muscle pump. Most often, a single-joint movement is used for this, such as a crossover on a block.

This number of repetitions was not chosen by chance. Scheme 5-8-12 allows you to develop muscle by activating all three mechanisms of muscle growth.

The first two exercises are multi-joint exercises and are performed with different numbers of repetitions to boost both muscle mass and strength gains. Sets with a small (6 or less) and medium (8 to 12) number of repetitions induce muscle growth due to mechanical stress and muscle microdamage, and these are two mechanisms of hypertrophy. While pure strength gains are not the goal of these workouts, you will get more muscular (and definitely stronger) by adding a few low-rep sets. Take your maximum weight at the beginning of your workout, until the first sign of fatigue.

The last of the three exercises is pumping stimulation. Pump training often relies on multi-repetitive single-joint exercises, and also includes high-intensity training techniques. The methodology is ideal for filling muscles with fluid and nutrients, as it increases the so-called metabolic stress and triggers another, third, muscle growth mechanism.

Fundamentals 5-8-12: Before Starting

In back training (as in the example), there are three multi-joint movements, in biceps and triceps training, one at a time, and in training the muscles of the back of the thigh and lower leg, there are no multi-joint movements. There just aren’t that many multi-joint movements for these body parts.
Don’t be afraid to change the set of exercises for each set. Even a good workout tends to diminish after about six weeks, so set a date to adjust your training plan.
If you continue to train in the 5-8-12 format, change the heavy exercises for mass and strength (choose multi-joint, but at different angles) at the beginning of the workout, and single-joint movements, in which you can use drop sets or other techniques to force pumping, in its ending.
Do not underestimate the importance of changing the vector of movement: alternate exercises on the bench with a positive and negative incline. Put the movements second that you did first with sets of 5 reps, and do sets of 8-10 reps. Variation in training stimuli will spur muscle growth and help strengthen lagging muscle groups!

Workout 5-8-12

Follow this protocol for each of the seven workouts suggested.

Warm-up sets do not count. Do as much as necessary, but never bring the warm-up to muscle failure. Warm-up sets are not included in the total number of sets.
For work sets, choose a weight with which you achieve muscle failure in the intended range of repetitions. If necessary, change the load in subsequent approaches.
In all third (final) exercises, use drop sets on each of the four sets. Once you get to muscle failure – preferably 12 reps – immediately reduce the weight by about 25% and continue to the second point of muscle failure.
In some exercises, it can be difficult to continue with the same weight on all 4 sets. Adjust the load on subsequent sets so you can reach your target reps.