20 minutes may not seem long enough to have an effective workout that will actually get results. However you can actually do a great deal in such a short time period.
This page has two 20 minute workouts. One workout requires exercise equipment such as a barbell, dumbbells and a bench. The other workout requires no equipment, it just uses body weight and cardio exercises only.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because these workouts are short, and use none or only basic equipment and exercises that they will not be effective.
These workouts have short rest times to fit in with the short 20 minute time period, this will make them intense. They will burn calories, get your heart pumping, have you breathing heavy and even get your muscles pumped.
What will these workouts achieve
These workouts will help you to achieve weight loss, muscle building, gaining strength and even some cardio benefits. It will also improve your circulation and help to speed up your metabolism.
Who are these 20 minute workouts for?
These workouts are mainly geared for beginners. However they are also for anybody that wants to achieve the above goals, and especially for people who are limited on time, money or they can’t make it to the gym for whatever reason. Somebody may also want to try something new, adding a short workout like this into their schedule may add a little variety.
No Equipment Workout – rest about 30 seconds between exercises and sets
Warm up – 3 Minutes
- Marching on the spot 1 minute.
- Knee bends, hold your arms out straight out in front of you, 2 sets of 10 reps.
- Arm rotations, slow repetitions forwards for 30 seconds and back for 30 seconds.
Main Workout
- Jogging on the spot (knees as high as you can) 1 minute
- Knee raises 3 sets of 10 reps, perform leg raises if knee raises are too easy.
- Lunges 3 sets of 10 reps each leg
- Abdominal crunches 3 sets of 10 reps
- Press ups or knee press ups, 4 sets of 10 reps
- Star jumps 1 minute
- Squats 3 sets of 10 reps
Workout 2 Exercise equipment needed – barbell/dumbbells and a bench required. This workout focuses more on weight resistance and is more advanced than the workout above.
Warm up is the same as the above workout.
Only 30 seconds rest between exercises.
- Shoulder press 3 sets of 15 reps
- Barbell squats 3 sets of 15 reps
- Dumbbell bench press 3 sets of 15 reps
- Deadlift 3 sets of 15 reps
- Dips 3 sets of 10 – 15 reps
The sets and reps are flexible so make adjustments as needed, even if you don’t have a spare 20 minutes you could reduce the workout and shorten it to create a 10 minute workout.
