I don’t have the time. Does that sentence sound familiar? We bet it does. Hands down, it’s the number one reason, in survey after survey, that women give for why they can’t exercise. And it’s true: we are hard-pressed for time. Between work and family commitments and trying to have a social life, there never really seem to be enough hours in the day. But you don’t need an hour to start a fitness plan that works. You don’t need even half an hour. We’re going to let you in on a little secret: All you need to create a slimmer, sexier, healthier body is 15 minutes.
That’s right, if you use your time wisely, you can get a great, body-transforming workout in just 15 minutes four to six times a week. According to an October 2010 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, 15 minutes of resistance training was just as effective as 35 minutes in elevating resting energy expenditure for up to 72 hours after exercising. That means you can burn calories, build muscle, and get the body you want in half the time you thought possible. And you’ll actually have a much better chance of slimming down with quick workouts than with lengthy gym sessions. A study in the International Journal of Sports Medicine found that women who were trying to lose weight had a much better chance of sticking to an exercise plan if their workouts were chopped down to 15 minutes.
It makes sense. You can always find 15 minutes, right? If you took every single second during which you said or thought “I don’t have the time” and added them up, it would equal more than 15 minutes. That’s why we’ve created our revolutionary superfast fitness program composed entirely of 15-minute workouts. These aren’t the kind of 15-minute workouts that are half as good as a 30-minute session. They’re scientifically designed to be as effective as they are efficient, so you’ll achieve the best results in the least amount of time. Every second of exercise will count a little more than it ever has before. Instead of working out longer, you’ll be working out smarter and faster.
You’ll find workouts to flatten your belly so quickly it’s almost instantaneous; workouts that melt fat off your body so fast you’ll barely have time to buy a smaller pair of pants before you drop another size; workouts that will turn your jiggly arms and thighs into firm, sleek accessories you’ll want to show off every second you can. Each of the workouts in this book has been road tested by our editors and validated by the latest research. Just follow our superfast fitness program and you’ll be seeing the fastest results of your life!
To make this book even more useful, the world’s top trainers have also provided dozens of cutting-edge 15-minute workouts for just about every form of exercise and just about every situation, such as the yoga metabolism booster in Chapter 15 or workouts for busy travelers designed by Juan Carlos Santana of the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, Florida, that will sculpt lean muscles in no time flat. Some of the advice and exercises in these pages comes from some of the biggest names in performance training, including longtime friend of Men’s Health Mark Verstegen, the author of the breakthrough book Core Performance and owner of Athlete’s Performance in Phoenix; exercise physiologist Amy Dixon of Equinox in Santa Monica; and Hollywood fitness trainer Valerie Waters in Los Angeles.
That’s barely scratching the surface of the sheer volume and variety of workouts we’ve included. Can’t shake nagging headaches? Pain-proof your noggin with the moves provided by Jyotsna Sahni, MD, a sleep specialist in Tucson. We’ve even created workouts based on your body type, so if you’ve spent your life trying to whittle down your pear-shaped behind, we’ve got you covered. And since your body should feel as good as it looks, we’ve also tapped some experts to bring you a little sexercise (hello, COREgasm!) with a whole chapter on better-sex workouts.
By following our Superfast Fitness Plan, you’ll learn how to put all of these workouts together for maximum results. Combine that with our Superfast Weight-Loss System and you’ll shed even more pounds, trim even more inches, and get back into your skinny jeans even faster. We’d go on and on about all the tools and resources that are packed into this book, but we don’t want to waste your time. Ready to get started? Good. Because who knows when your 15 minutes of fame might arrive.
15 WAYS TO FIND 15 MINUTES FOR EXERCISE EVERY DAY! (DITCH THE STUFF THAT’S WASTING YOUR PRECIOUS TIME.)
1. FLIP OFF FACEBOOK. We now spend a whopping 7 hours a month on Facebook, according to Neilsen. Let’s do the math: Seven hours a month works out to 105 minutes each week or, hmmm, guess what, exactly 15 minutes every single day. You don’t have to banish FB from your life entirely, but limit it to two short sessions a day, like once in the morning over coffee and later in the evening. Then log out and stay off.
2. SAY “NO!” Women have a very hard time with this one. But we think you’ll really like it once you try it. Next time someone (not your big boss) asks you to do something you really don’t want or need to do, say, “I’m sorry. No. I just can’t,” and feel the freedom—and all that free time—wash over you.
3. PLAN YOUR PEAKS. We all have certain times of the day when we are most focused and productive. Schedule your biggest task for that time (for many people it’s in the morning, say 9:00 a.m.). You’ll get it done more quickly and efficiently than if you wait to tackle it during a natural low point (like midafternoon).
4. DO ONE THING AT A TIME. We pride ourselves on being supreme multi-taskers, but trying to do too many things at once means getting nothing done. Sit down with your to-do list. Pick an item, and do it and only it. You’ll be shocked by how quickly each task gets done when you give it your full energy and attention.
5. RECORD YOUR SHOWS. A typical hour-long TV show contains just 40 to 42 minutes of real content—the rest is commercials. Watch two shows and that’s 40 to 45 minutes you could have spent doing something else. It’s well worth investing in a digital TV recorder so you can watch just what you want when you want, and free up hours (and, by the end of the year, days) to pursue more healthful activities, like 15-minute workouts.
6. DON’T BE A NEATNIK. Is it really all that important that your apartment is spotless? Stop wasting precious time straightening your sheets just so and polishing picture frames, and aim for adequate instead.
7. BE DECISIVE! You can easily waste hours choosing what color to paint your walls or which brand of sneakers to buy (it’s called analysis paralysis). At some point, you need to stop waffling and move forward. Set a time limit, say 45 minutes, for comparison shopping, weighing pros and cons, etc., then make a decision and go forth.
8. BUY TIME. Yes, you actually can buy more hours in the day by paying for services that suck up tons of time. Before you pooh-pooh the idea of hiring a laundry or cleaning service, sit down and do a little math. What is an hour of your time worth? How do you spend your disposable income? When you consider that you might be blowing a few hundred bucks on shoes and bags you don’t really need while you slave away all your spare time scrubbing the tub, it’s time to reconsider your expenditures. Hire a cleaning service to do the heavy-duty stuff twice a month, look into premade meal plans, and buy yourself hours every week.
9. INK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR. Amazing how you find time for everything on your calendar, right? That’s because it’s there in black and white, demanding your attention (and time). Block out your workouts as you would work appointments and you won’t miss a one.
10. USE AN EGG TIMER. Certain activities are black holes for time. All the little things you plan to do for just a few minutes—surfing the Web, playing games on your phone, “window shopping” all the new apps for your iPhone or iPad—can suck away hours if you’re not careful. Keep an egg timer on your desk. When you sit down, set it for 15 or 20 minutes. Then shut down when the bell rings.
11. TOUCH IT ONCE. When a paper comes across your desk (or in the mail), deal with it immediately. Piling up stacks of paper not only creates distracting clutter, you also waste time revisiting each issue again (and again) or, worse, losing something important. (Try it with email too!)
12. MAKE A CALL. IM-ing and emailing can be great time-savers. But sometimes it takes 15 messages to accomplish what you could do in a 40-second phone call. As soon as it starts getting complicated, pick up the phone.
13. PUT THINGS IN THEIR PLACES. I used to waste minutes (hours…days) looking for my keys. At any given time they could have been anywhere, and I mean anywhere—coat pockets, drawers, messenger bags, the clothes dryer, my car, or my personal favorite, hanging from the door lock. Finally, I bought a 75-cent hook, hung it by the phone as my designated key spot, and have not lost my keys since. Try this trick with anything you lose regularly. It works.
14. SET OUT YOUR STUFF. This one is repeated more often than It’s a Wonderful Life at Christmastime, but it works. Setting out your exercise clothes at night makes it far more likely that you will get up and get moving for a morning workout, instead of hitting snooze (or worse, skipping the whole affair entirely) because it’s too daunting to get up and start rummaging around for your workout gear.
15. GET UP 15 MINUTES EARLIER. Ridiculously simple, right? Yep, and it works. Vow to get up and work out at 5 a.m. every day and you’ll never do it. But even the most nocturnal of night owls can set their alarms (and roll out of the sack) a mere 15 minutes earlier in the morning. Even if you don’t use that extra time for your workout, it gets you out the door and to your office earlier than usual, so you get more done earlier in the day. So you’re more likely to feel entitled to take that 15 minutes for yourself later in the day.