Drop the Weight with EJ: How to Get an Effective Fat Loss Workout in 30 Minutes or Less

Exercise is a big part of any healthy lifestyle. There are the calorie burning benefits, but there are also the benefits of improved cardiovascular health, higher energy levels, and just the general vitality it adds to your life to allow you to engage in your daily activities. The benefits are one thing, but there’s the issue of making time in your already packed schedule to workout. If all you have is 30 minutes to exercise each day, I’m going to share a few ways you can make the most out of it and get the best out of your workout time to get the fat loss results you want.

Plan Ahead of Time
Since time is of the essence, you need to make sure that you plan for your workout ahead of time. Planning ahead means:

• Laying out your workout clothes the night before
• Setting up your timer beforehand
• Putting the DVD in or putting out your workout equipment beforehand
• Making sure you have all you need for your exercise session like water and a towel before it’s go time

Doing all this ahead of time will allow you to focus on your workout rather than running to the kitchen in the middle of the workout to get a glass of water. This heightened focus will allow you to do each exercise in your workout with proper form so as to get the most benefit.

Double Up on Cardio and Strength Training
If all you have is 30 minutes for each workout session, you want to make sure you get your bang for your buck by doubling up on both cardio and strength training in one session. One easy way to do it is to set up your workout as a circuit and use your legs. Setting up your workout as a circuit means that you do your exercises back-to-back without a rest break. You do have to take at least one rest break during your workout and this is where planning ahead of time comes in handy, so you can choose to do a circuit of four exercises and then take a short rest break and repeat till the 30 minutes are done. Also you want to use your legs because your quadricep muscles are the biggest calorie burners in your body, so recruiting them in a different way in every workout will ensure that you’re getting a fat loss benefit when you’re working out.

Stretch Afterwards
There are three components to an effective workout program, cardiovascular exercise, strength exercise, and flexibility exercise. Stretching afterwards takes care of the flexibility portion of things and gives you a well rounded workout program that your body will thank you for later. The stretching portion doesn’t need to be elaborate, it just needs to stretch out the major muscle groups that you used during your workout.

Here’s What a Simple 30 Minute Exercise Program Will Look Like

Warm Up (3:00)
The purpose of the warm up is to start getting your muscles ready for the movement patterns that you’re going to be using in the main workout. You can select easier versions of the exercises that you’re going to be doing in your main workout for this portion.

• Static Lunge (30 seconds per side)
• Modified Push Up (30 seconds)
• Side Plank (30 seconds per side)

Main Workout (~ 20 minutes if repeated three times with a short rest break between rounds)

• Back Lunges (30 seconds per side)
• Basic Push Up (50 seconds)
• Lunge Up (30 seconds per side)
• Ab Scorcher Plank (50 seconds)
• Lunge Twist (30 seconds per side)
• Side Plank Combo (50 seconds)

Stretch  (4:00)

• Crescent Lunge (to stretch the front of your thighs)
• Pigeon Prep (to stretch your butt muscles)
• Sphinx Pose (to stretch out the front of your abs)
• Standing Crescent (to stretch out your obliques and your arms)

The exercises above come to a total of 27 minutes. The extra 3 minutes will give you time to change between exercises and viola you’ve got a 30-minute full body workout that will burn calories, help you lose fat, and get you one step closer to your goal.

When you’re designing your workout, remember that consistency is so much more important than complexity. This means that your workout doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to get done so build in a plan to be consistent and hold yourself accountable to that consistency.

Give Yourself Well-Deserved Props
Showing up at every session to workout is no joke, so before you rush off to the rest of your busy day make sure you give yourself the praise you deserve. I know it sounds cheesy, but pat yourself on the back or give yourself a big hand clap for showing up and showing out for your goals. As you do this with each session, you’ll find that the few seconds of praise you give yourself become your motivation for seeing every session through to the end. Now go on, create your workout, have fun, and I’ll see you on the other side.

Over to You:
I want you to get over the hangup that you don’t have enough time to exercise, and I hope I’ve given you information to help you do this by showing you what a thirty minute workout would look like. Your task till we meet again in two weeks is to execute at least three 30 minute workouts each week for a total of 6 workouts. I promise, you’ll be able to tell the difference in how you look or at least in how you feel.

If you’re having trouble creating a 30 minute workout for yourself, do check out my Smash Boredom Fit Club program. It’s an online Fit Club and that costs NGN 10,000 and for that you get:

• A comprehensive assessment with a report that lays out the action plan that will give you the most direct route to your goal
• A personalized strength Workout video that’s 30 – 40 minutes long. You also have the option to add one yoga practice if you want to
• A weekly accountability report that focuses on how you’re progressing towards your goal
• And access to a Lifestyle Coach to guide you every step of the way

If this sounds like you, head over to the [TEAM] Shop to buy your membership to the Fit Club. Make sure to say that Bella Naija sent you in the checkout notes as I have a special bonus for Bella Naija readers. Registration closes on the 15th of August, so register before then.

I can wait to see you in the Smash Boredom Fit Club.