15-Minute Fat-Burning Workout

One of the most common reasons people give for not working out is, “I don’t have time.”

To help you overcome that and to get your week started on a good note, here is a workout that can be done in 15 minutes, at home (if you have a dumbbell and can jump in your place) or at a gym.

Short And Effective Workout Routine #2 – Strength/Explode/Hold
This is the second routine of 5 short and effective workout routines and consists of 6 movements. For this routine, you’re going to do 30-seconds of each exercise, and after the 6th one, you will take a 30 to 60 second break and repeat for as many rounds as you can in 15-minutes. As you can possibly tell from the name, Strength/Explode/Hold, it consists of a lower body strength movement, a lower body explosive movement and a lower body “hold,” followed by the same pattern for the upper body.

The 6-movements for this routine are:

1. Goblet Squats
2. Squat Jumps
3. Wall Sits
4. Push-ups
5. Mountain Climbers
6. Fully Extended Plank

The goal is to do as many reps as you can in 30-seconds, while still maintaining good form. You will need one dumbbell for this workout and potentially a mat if you’re going to do modified push-ups.

Here’s a 2 and a half minute video of the exercises, with descriptions below the video:

Goblet Squats
Start by holding a weight with the bottom portion of your palms holding the top of one side of a weight. Keep your elbows tucked in, feet about shoulder width apart.

Move your hips back and down and get as low as you can, while not allowing your knees to cave in.

Squat Jumps
With squat jumps, you’re going to squat down, and explode up. When you come back down, you want to land softly and right back into the squat position and back up. This should be fast and explosive. Thirty seconds of this should really get your legs burning, which then sets you up for Wall Sits.

Wall Sits
For a wall sit, just lean against a wall and squat down so your knees form a 90 degree angle. You want to try and keep your back flush up against the wall for the whole 30 seconds. If you want to make this harder, you can hold a weight, while doing it. To make it easier, you can hold your thighs.

This ends the lower body portion and next up is the upper body portion, starting with…

Push-ups
Start in a push-up position (aka, on your toes and with your hands under your shoulders), keeping your hips in line with your shoulders the whole time. From there, bend at your shoulders and elbows, making sure to not flare your elbows out when you go down, bringing your chest to the floor. Push-up to the starting position.

If this is too difficult, you can do a modified push-up by dropping to your knees doing the same movement, making sure to keep a straight line from your knees, hips and shoulders.

Mountain Climbers
Once you’re done with push-ups, you’re going to bring one leg in, while keeping the other fully extended. As best as you can, keep your hips parallel with your shoulders and simultaneously jump one foot forward and the other one back, alternating for the 30 seconds.

Fully Extended Plank
At this point, your shoulders should be burning a little and all you’re going to do is hold yourself up, again keeping your hips as high as your shoulders for 30 seconds.

If you feel your hips sagging, squeeze your butt and abs as hard as you can for the entire 30 seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions
Rest
Try to rest as little as possible throughout this whole sequence. The less rest, the harder the workout will be. The more rest, the easier it will be. After the 6th exercise, take a 30 to 60 second break in between rounds.

Time to Complete
This workout should take 15 minutes to complete.

Weights
You only need weight for the Goblet squats. For most women, I would start with a 15-lb dumbbells and for men, I would use at least a 25-lb dumbbell for them.

With that said, you can always use more weight or less, but I wouldn’t recommend going too light.

Stop If…
If your form breaks down or you feel any pain (not a muscle burning from doing the work) either stop the movement or adjust it.

If you have any additional questions, let me know.