Half an hour – or even just 20 minutes – is all you need to exhaust your muscles and make serious gains, as Evolve Fitness’ Tim Walker explains.
“The first protocol is called Escalating Density Training,” explains Walker.
“This is a workout performed not by sets or reps, but by time. We used bench press and bent-over row, because they are opposing muscle groups meaning that as you do one exercise, in theory, you’re resting the other.
“We estimate the 10-rep max for each exercise and aim to do 8 reps with good form before moving onto the next. Form must stay correct, so after a few sets you must begin to drop the repetitions all the way down to 1 rep if that’s what you need to do.
“The only number that we look at is the total number of reps performed per exercise. That will be your PB for that pairing; the aim is to beat it next time. If you improve by more than 20 per cent you must up the weight by a minimum of 5 per cent and restart the count.
“Anyone who struggles to find the time to work out will massively benefit from this type of volume training. Even if you only have 10 minutes, you can pair two exercises and get a good session in.”
The Escalating Density Workout
20 mins non-stop
8 reps per exercise
- Bench Press
- Bent-over Row
15/10 finisher
1 rep (15 secs rest), 2 reps (15 secs rest) etc. – work up to 15 reps, rest, then move onto the next exercise
- Tricep Push-down
- Hammer Curl
