The past 6 months have humbled me.

I’ve learned a lot.

Although I’ve been lifting weights for nearly 15+ years and working out for nearly 20+ years, the learning never ends.

This year in particular has taught me about the power of workout efficiency.

Especially when it comes to getting the most bang out of your workouts.

In the past, I’ve lifted for 4-5 days for 60-75 minutes per workout.

Due to health experiments I’ve been testing on myself plus having a newborn son, my time has sliced by more than half.

But even with less time working out, I’ve been committed to getting similar or better results.

Is it possible?

With the right approach - yes.

Is it for everybody?

Maybe.

It depends on your character and how much you’re willing to push yourself.

The reality is most of us are undertraining.

What that means is that we’re leaving potential on the table.

We aren’t challenging ourselves enough.

Part of that stems from not having a compelling vision.

If you don’t know where you want to go and WHY you want to go there, you probably won’t get anywhere.

Clarity and focus are two attributes of leaders and high performers.

Get clear on your goals.

Then, focus your energy on achieving them.

It’s simple in theory.

But harder in application.

Willpower is one of our higher mental faculties.

Using it is what differentiates us from the other animal species.

Use the following blueprint to burn fat in under 30 minutes each week.

#1 Choose compound movements

Exercises that hit multiple muscle groups are highly effective.

Use these to your advantage.

Rather than start with calf raises or bicep curls, start with big muscle groups.

Do what others aren’t willing to do.

Focus on squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows, and pull-downs.

Hit the exercises that others avoid.

And get the results that others wish they had.

The more muscle groups an exercise hits, the more effective it’ll be when you’re time restricted.

As a rule of thumb, if an exercise works out more than 2-3 muscle groups at once, it’s usually a good exercise to have.

Hit your big muscle groups like your glutes, chest, back, legs first.

Then, layer in the secondary exercises like arms, calves, and abs.

Order of priority.

Focus is a superpower.

#2 Superset or tri-set exercises

With 30 minutes on the clock, increasing your workout efficiency is important.

I’ve used this methodology when I only have 5 minutes to workout.

How it works:

• When you have an exercise like squats which hits your front part of legs called the quadriceps muscle, do a second exercise after you finish squats immediately afterwards. This technique is called APS (antagonistic paired sets) but commonly known as supersetting. Doing deadlifts after your squats would hit the opposing muscle groups and fit into the APS model nicely
• You can also do this for three exercises and hit different parts of your body or even in circuit style training which uses 4+ exercises
• Technical note: True supersets hit the same muscle groups back to back. For example DB squats followed by leg presses which both hit your quads. However, I’m following the common workout language and calling this supersets here.

Aim to workout smarter, not longer.

#3 Aim to leave 1-2 reps in tank

When it comes to results, nothing beats workout intensity.

The better your intensity (how hard you’re challenging yourself), the better your results will be.

You don’t sculpt a lean, toned, body from lifting light weights and not challenging yourself.

Leaving 1-2 reps in your tank for each SET you do for every exercise will streamline your results.

If you’re really pressed for time, push your sets to failure.

While I don’t recommend this for longer workouts and for extended periods of time, there are seasons when you don’t have much time to workout.

Pushing to failure can help recruit more motor units in your muscles which can increase the amount of muscle building results you see in less time.

Regardless, keeping a training intensity of 80-90%+ each set will ensure you workout intelligently while slicing your time by 50% or more.

Keep training hard.

#4 Lift with purpose

Intention creates direction.

Without knowing why you lift, your workouts will suffer.

If you want to get the most of each of your workouts, give yourself 1 minute to reflect before starting.

Visualize your body and health.

See yourself with your dream fitness levels.

Strong. Lean. Confident.

Don’t think this works?

There’s studies that have been done on multiple athlete groups which measure the results of visualization while training and without training.

The unexpected takeaway they discovered?

The group that only visualized (even without training) still saw a 21% increase in shooting accuracy (the study was done on basketball players).

Without training an extra day.

The power of your mind on physical reality is boundless.

We truly don’t know the depths of what our mind can create.

But there’s enough evidence showing that our mind can bend reality.

That it can influence our results.

So why not use this each time you workout.

See your results 5 years ahead.

Then work within that vision each time you lift.

If you want a faster way to see results in less time, using this one tactic alone will change your life.

What you focus on expands.

Positive or negative.

#5 Use a finisher exercise

A finisher exercise is commonly known as a fat-burner exercise.

While exercises can help facilitate the fat-loss process, there’s only one proven way to ‘burn fat’:

Use a strategic caloric deficit (eating less than your body needs).

Exercise to build muscle and strength.

Eat less to drop body fat and excess weight.

Don't confuse the two.

But over the years, I’ve noticed that it’s nice to finish each workout with a bang and some good ole’ sweat.

Exercises like kettlebell swings, sprints, plyometric jumps (not recommended if you have joint issues), or calisthenics like pushups, ab circuits, or pull-ups can workout nicely as finishers.

Instead of aiming for 8-12 reps here, go for 15-20 reps since you’re going for the endurance effect and getting your heart rate up.

While physiological and not actually ‘burning’ more fat, it’s nice to feel accomplished when you finish a workout.

End each workout with a bang.

Then, repeat this formula 2-3 times a week.

90 minutes or less a week of consistent exercise will always defeat 1-2 weeks of perfect long workouts but inconsistent over 12 months.

Aim for consistency > perfection.

Rooting for you too. 🙂

- Gabriel

P.S. Eat at the “wrong” time and you can lose up to 60% of your body’s fat-burning ability to shred stubborn pounds 🫢

More on this later this week.

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