I would like to start working out during my lunch hour.

April 6, 2009 12:47 AM

Help me plan a lunch-hour workout.

There's a gym in my office building, and I've decided to use it on my lunch break, which will mean I spend less time puttering around malls downtown, I bring lunch more often, and I get in to better shape.
I'm not too worried about cardio, as I am doing the 6 weeks from couch to 5K thing.

The gym itself is decently equipped with free weights, cardio machines, a bunch of the not-free-weight machines and a couple of balance balls/yoga mats.

I'd like to figure out a routine or a number of them I can rotate through (which is better?) for four workouts a week which take up no more than 30-40 minutes altogether, as I need time to eat, change, shower, etc.

Thanks in advance, gang!

posted by heeeraldo to health & fitness (7 comments total)

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/
on 3 of the days, maybe some simple light bodyweight exercises (pushup, pullup, situp) on the other 2 days.

Or you could spring for Starting Strength which is totally worth the money, but not free.
posted by ctmf at 1:12 AM on April 6

What you don't want to do is any exercising over your lunch hour that will take more than the rest of the workday to recover from. I think CTMF is on the right track with strength and stamina-building training without weights. The bands that are in some gyms are good too for resistance training but I would stay away from the machines and save those for times when you can devote real time and energy to them.
posted by parmanparman at 5:58 AM on April 6

Are you over or underweight, looking to increase tone or get huge? Each of those goals has a different strategy for lifting.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:09 AM on April 6

Depending on your goals, I would recommend two things.

First, as ctmf suggested, Starting Strength is a good intro to weight lifting, and a good program if you are getting back into lifting. Essentially, it's three workouts a week with three full-body exercises each workout. (Squats, bench, etc). Warning: you will be pretty sore, but expect to see quick gains.

Secondly, I would do intervals with cardio. If you want to get rid of fat, this is one of the best ways to do it.

You should be able to do both in an hour, but that might take a toll in the beginning. Perhaps alternate days, so you do weight lifting on one day and cardio on the next, until you get used to it.
posted by monkeyman82 at 7:10 AM on April 6

I agree that it depends on your goals. If you're trying to gain muscle, you don't want to be doing interval training. And you are not going to be able to do a Starting Strength workout plus anything else strenuous in an hour.

Does your gym even have an olympic barbell and a power rack? If not, you can't do Starting Strength, and your strength training options are pretty limited.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:49 AM on April 6

CrossFit.
posted by AceRock at 11:27 AM on April 6

If you are also couch to 5K-ing it, don't add more cardio during lunch. I'd second (or third or whatever) the Stronglifts 5x5 program - don't add extra days of bodyweight exercises or whatever - believe me when I say that Stronglifts will be more than enough on its own.

Warning - as your weights get heavier and you start needing more time to recover between sets you could easily go over 40 minutes. Once this happened to me I switched from 5x5 on the Bench, Overhead Press and Squat to 5x3 ala Rippetoe from Starting Strength.

If you are going to give 5x5 a shot - read the entire book and make sure you get the specifics. A lot of people don't and end up on the wrong weights for deadlifts.
posted by jopreacher at 12:36 PM on April 6