45 minutes, what should I do?

paradog

Ok so here's the deal. I teach at a local high school and will have access to a gym at the end of the day, 5 days a week. I only have about 45 minutes. I will be doing cardio at home. I do not want to bulk up, just strength training. Anyone want to give some advice on what exercises I should look to do?

bethdris

Light weight lifting, or swimming?

paradog

no pool, nice idea though!

calderst

Ok so here's the deal. I teach at a local high school and will have access to a gym at the end of the day, 5 days a week. I only have about 45 minutes. I will be doing cardio at home. I do not want to bulk up, just strength training. Anyone want to give some advice on what exercises I should look to do?

I love body weight exercises for staying sculpted but not really bulking... walking lunges, pull-ups (or assisted pull-ups), inverted rows, push-ups & plank variations.
If you have access to weights, full-body circuits are great for maintaining but not to do everyday because you need to rest your muscles a wee bit before you work them again. If you're planning on lifting everyday, you may want to come up with a plan of which body parts to work each day (i.e. Mondays=shoulders). Depending on how heavy you lift, you may start to bulk after a bit but if you're balancing it with plenty of cardio & healthy eating, it's more likely that you'll notice more strength and definition rather than bigness. I like to go heavy for about 4-6 weeks and then change it up to keep my muscles guessing.

antimike

Depends on what the results and areas are that you want to tone.

Go lower weight and high reps to tone your body more. It is always a good thing to do core work, so crunches, leg lifts, back exercises...etc.

When you do your lifting, try to do a circuit so that it keeps your heart rate up. Also try to isolate different muscle groups on different days.

For me it goes like this at the gym:
Monday: Chest & Back
Tuesday: Shoulders & Core
Wednesday: Biceps & Triceps
Thursday: Legs/Glutes & Core
Friday: Cardio specific day (generally 20-30 mins on the treadmill)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Cardio specific:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Group road cycling ride - 16-20 mph cycling for 1hr+ 20-25 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Group road cycling ride - 14-16 mph hill climbing 1hr+20-25 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Group mountain bike ride - 1-2 hours pace varies
Sunday: Group road cycling ride - 16-20 mph long ride 40+ miles.

I do a combination of strength training and cycling but sometimes it varies. I'll do one or the other, but most times if I have something scheduled for a day I'll do both depending on how I feel.

Azdak

If you are just starting, then you don't have to follow a complicated routine. Pick some basic exercises--leg press, leg curl, chest press, lat pulldown or row, shoulder press and work up to 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps, working to close to failure each set. If they have other workstations -- cables, dumbbell area-- you could add upright rows, body weight squats and step ups. Rest 60-120 secs between sets. To save time, I like to do the exercise in pairs or trios --alternate legs with arms, front/back, etc.

Work on getting your form back and improving your strength levels. Don't waste time with things like bicep curls, triceps, crunches or back extensions. If you can fit everything in in 45min, then you only need to do the routine twice a week.

In several weeks as you get stronger, you can start to lift some heavier weights. If you have the facilities, you can also start to migrate away from machines into free weights. At that point, it will be time to reassess and redo your program.