Can You Get An Effective Exercise routine in 30 Minutes?

The answer is yes, but you have to workout smart. Your training time has to be carefully orchestrated so you use every minute effectively. Exercise should consist of a mix of both cardio and strength training. Here's how.

Tip! For workout beginners, a personal trainer can be very helpful. A prospective trainer should be willing to examine your needs and help you figure out your fitness goals.

Warm up your large lower body muscle groups by jogging a mile to the gym. Once there, spend 5 minutes stretching out the rest of your body that you will be working, namely your back, chest, arms and shoulders.

Spend a minute each on each type of exercise for the next 10 minutes by doing a round of these exercises:

Bench and military presses
Squats Lunges
Bent over rows
Bicep and leg curls
Overhead dumbbell extensions
 Leg Extensions

Allow yourself a 10 to 15-second rest between each set. Once finished with the first round, do it all over again.

Tip! Wall sits are fast and simple ways on which you can build leg strength. Start by selecting an area of empty wall space that will accommodate your body in motion.

As far as the number of repetitions, gauge it on whether you want to build muscle strength and size, exercise for general fitness, or burn fat and build muscle endurance. Do 4 to 6, 12 to 15 or 20 to 25 reps, respectively depending on your desired goal.

Now let's work your core; take the next 5 minutes and do each exercise below for 1 minute with a 15-second rest between each exercise:

Crunches Leg raises
Oblique crunches
And static planks

Once finished, rest for a few seconds before starting your slow jog back to your starting point. The jog back is your cool-down.

In a quick 30 minutes, you have worked most of the major muscle groups in both your upper and lower body, along with your abdominal core.

To lose weight and get in shape, do this routine 3 times per week. On 3 of the other days of the week, concentrate on strictly cardio training. Rest on the 7th day as your muscles need time to repair themselves and grow.

Tip! People who play racquetball and tennis have found an easy way to strengthen one's forearms. Put a large portion of news print on a table or flat surface.

Once you have been on this training schedule for a while, you'll start to see some progress toward your goal - whether that is losing weight, growing stronger or just getting more fit.

Remember, part of any good training program is eating healthy and watching portion control. As the old saying goes "You can out-exercise bad eating." Because nutrition accounts for 80% of your goal and exercise the other 20%, clean eating has to be an integral part of your overall fitness plan. Don't sacrifice one for the other.

The answer is yes, but you have to work out smart. Your training time has to be carefully orchestrated so you use almost every minute effectively. Training should consist of a mix of both cardio and resistance training. Remember, part of any good training program is eating healthy and watching portion control. Because nutrition accounts for 80% of your goal and exercise the other 20%, clean eating has to be an integral part of your overall fitness plan.