“Are 20-Minute Workouts Enough? Isn’t an hour better?”
This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive at Workout Muse and today I’m going to set the record straight once and for all.
As many of you know, we brought the concept of 30-minute express workouts to the group exercise world when everyone else was still offering 1-hour classes in the same format as 1980’s aerobics classes.
Though lots of people are now following our lead, there are still a ton of fitness bootcamps and group exercise classes still holding on to that 60-minute template for dear life.
I'd rather do my own bookkeeping and accounting than 60 minutes of this...
In my experience, after 20 minutes of high-intensity metabolic circuit training there are simply diminishing returns.
For example, when I first launched our corporate program back in 2007 the classes lasted about 45 minutes with the workout being a full 30 minutes and a warm-up an cool-down o book end the workout.
Here’s what I discovered:
1.) People were dragging a$$ the last 10 minutes of the 30 minute workout
2.) People were pacing through the entire workout in order to be able to get through the full 30 minutes
3.) The last 10 minutes were a mental grind for people to get through on a regular basis
4.) People wanted to get in and out in 30 minutes total because of their busy schedules
So, we switched over to 30-minute express workouts with a 20-minute workout and a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down to book end the workout and the rest is history.
What happened?
1.) We got better results
2.) We had better short and long-term compliance/attendance
3.) People LOVED the fact that it was only 20 minutes of “killshot” intensity and that they were in and out in 30 minutes
Still not convinced??
Well I have an incredible video to share with you that I just filmed late yesterday afternoon at our new Workout Muse Training Center called “THE FITNESS ASYLUM.”
I’m hosting the first ever Bootcamp Automator LIVE here in Milwaukee, WI and some of our attendees experienced a killer new 20-minute workout template that is actually a sneak peak at one of the workouts for Bootcamp Automator in July.
It’s called 40-20 Drop Sets and it very well may be the hardest workout you ever attempt.
After you do the workout, be sure to post a comment to the blog and let me know if that 20 minutes was “good enough” for ya 
Crank it!
BJ
PS- Interestingly enough, this workout also shows off the applications of Workout Muse for semi-private training (groups of 4-6 people). Where WM allows you to provide a semi-private training touch in a bootcamp setting, it allows you to provide a 1-on-1 personal training touch in a semi-private setting… give this workout a shot!!
Tags: drop sets workout, fitness music, interval training workout music, Metabolic Workout, Semi-Private Training, workout muse
BJ, I am totally behind the research of interval training and know it works. Great video clip. Maybe you should show workouts without any tools/equipment too.
I have to say some days for my mind I love a longer (see ya, would not wanna be ya!) run on the weekend. But during the week the interval style workouts rock.
BJ I loved this clip. Interval training is definitely the way to go.
Short ans sweet!!!!
I like it, but why are you doing drop sets? I mean If you want more burning and strength building do it in reverse. Going progressive with the weights, so every round you aim to do more reps with 20% more weight in the same time frame.
I’ll give it a try at the gym on Monday and see what happens in 20 minutes. Going progressive might not be a bad idea but maybe with a few changes in the workout schedule.
This workout was intense!!! Don’t knock it ’til you try it! I had a blast with it and look forward to rocking my campers with it next month. Thanks BJ!
This was an awesome workout! The drop sets added to the intensity of the whole thing giving a nice mix of metabolic, strength and hypertrophy (mad pump).
As Cassandra said, you really have to perform this workout to fully appreciate it. Luckily, we had the chance to do so this weekend!
BJ- OMG!!! Are you kidding me? What are you trying to do? Make us all fitness freaks??? Way to go! Another unbelivable quality option from you! Thanks a million!
Done it yesterday in the gym, it was pretty hard but I did it and proceeded to do some weight lifting. Felt even more pumped for the weights, great stuff.
There’s nothing like getting a group of boot camp owners in one room working out together, especially with the king of boot camps leading the workout!!