Best concentrated workout moves?

[ajcj]

Hi all

Oh! It's January, and I seem to have got fat and unfit. Best join a gym...

Lots of those conversations going on around me at the moment. I've just moved offices to an industrial estate with a gym less than 100yds away, and am giving serious consideration to signing up. It's got all the usual facilities - free weights / treadmills / ergos / spinning bikes / x-trainers. It's 20 years since I last did serious gym work, so I can't remember all the priciples, and I had a lot more time in those days. Visits would have to be shoehorned into lunch breaks.

Here's the question - if you set yourself a half an hour limit to your workout, what are the best lifts / exercises to perform? I was thinking a circuit of big, complex free weight lifts (squats, deadlifts, various presses) where you rest legs by performing chest exercises and so on. Strip out all the posing time.... Anyone know of a good websote with a 'workout of the day' or random workout generator or similar?

Thanks for advice.

A

[bigunit00]

I thought this was a good template. Focuses on 4 days a week ( mon / tues / thurs / Friday works well) with emphasise on compound mvts then some assistance moves. You can the add variety by mixing up the exercises from the list provided. I have literally written this on a piece of paper and used it easily. If I was really shifting I reckon I old get it done in 30 mins. I think 45-60 mins would be better. You will need do some conditioning and mobility/stretching stuff outside the gym time given your constraints. Though by cutting your rest time btwn sets should give some good conditioning while you lift.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_r...

[Taita]

Worth a look at Stronglifts.com perhaps?

Worked well for me previously.

[smiffy180]

Squats, deadlifts, military press and bench press. 4 main ones that work everything and a conditioning day? Prowler ect.

[ajcj]

bigunit00 said:

I thought this was a good template. Focuses on 4 days a week ( mon / tues / thurs / Friday works well) with emphasise on compound mvts then some assistance moves. You can the add variety by mixing up the exercises from the list provided. I have literally written this on a piece of paper and used it easily. If I was really shifting I reckon I old get it done in 30 mins. I think 45-60 mins would be better. You will need do some conditioning and mobility/stretching stuff outside the gym time given your constraints. Though by cutting your rest time btwn sets should give some good conditioning while you lift.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_r...

That's really helpful, thanks. Don't understand how to do some of the exercises he mentions, but that's what gym staff are for.....

[Halb]

There is a sticky topic for this...

[ajcj]

Halb said:

There is a sticky topic for this...

Well......yes and no. If you don't know what a double snatch or a posterior chain are (and at first blush I might rather have expected to find those terms in some very specialist German pornographic publications) then the sticky isn't much use - certainly it didn't answer my specific questions when I looked at it. The good folk who took time to reply on here have saved me a tremendous amount of trial and error clicking on random links, and I love them for it in a proud and manly way.

[Halb]

So long as it is proud...and manly...

[Meoricin]

The sticky does include the links to some very well explained resources. For a 30min/day workout, I'd look at stronglifts or starting strength 5x5 routines.