Help me pick a lifting routine!

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amandaeve
amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am looking for a 10-minute strength-building routine to do 3 times a week. I have dumbbells, a bench and a cable machine at my disposal. I want to focus on triceps, upper back/lats, hamstrings and anything else I can fit in 10 minutes. This is just to augment cardio and body-weight exercises I already do every day. I have a few extra minutes to kill and a few muscles that feel like they need more. What do you think I should do?

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  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
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    I don't believe that there is such a thing as a 10 min "strength building" routine - - at least not an effective one.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    amandaeve wrote: »
    I am looking for a 10-minute strength-building routine to do 3 times a week. I have dumbbells, a bench and a cable machine at my disposal. I want to focus on triceps, upper back/lats, hamstrings and anything else I can fit in 10 minutes. This is just to augment cardio and body-weight exercises I already do every day. I have a few extra minutes to kill and a few muscles that feel like they need more. What do you think I should do?

    Devote more time.
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
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    All kinds of strength building excercies can be found online, routines included. I use the JEFIT app. It has a paid version but it’s not necesssy. There are literally thousands of workouts community members of compiled. But you’ll quickly learn that all of them rryquurr more than 10 minutes. What are your specific goals with strength training?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    That is just not really much time at all. Whenever people post what equipment they have I try to come up with something and I'm pretty much coming up blank. You could pick one exercise each time but you're not really going to build strength doing something for 10 minutes a week. Just doing warm up sets would take a good portion of that time.

    What bodyweight exercises are you doing every day?
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
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    If you’re truly serious, I can help you come up with a plan. But it would require at least 45 min dedication.
  • ccruz985
    ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
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    No such thing. The least amount of time I've dedicated to lifting is 32 - 35 minutes while I was following a program (ChaLean Extreme).
  • ijsantos2005
    ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
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    I mean, you could probably get 1-2 sets of something in 10 mins. Then do one each day and that would be kinda okay. Triceps kickbacks one day, dumbbell rows the next, and dumbbell single leg Romanian deadlifts the last day.

    amandaeve wrote: »
    I am looking for a 10-minute strength-building routine to do 3 times a week. I have dumbbells, a bench and a cable machine at my disposal. I want to focus on triceps, upper back/lats, hamstrings and anything else I can fit in 10 minutes. This is just to augment cardio and body-weight exercises I already do every day. I have a few extra minutes to kill and a few muscles that feel like they need more. What do you think I should do?

  • ijsantos2005
    ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
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    amandaeve wrote: »
    I am looking for a 10-minute strength-building routine to do 3 times a week. I have dumbbells, a bench and a cable machine at my disposal. I want to focus on triceps, upper back/lats, hamstrings and anything else I can fit in 10 minutes. This is just to augment cardio and body-weight exercises I already do every day. I have a few extra minutes to kill and a few muscles that feel like they need more. What do you think I should do?

    For example (off the top of my head):

    Day 1: Triceps (dumbbell kickbacks or cable push-downs) 2-3 sets x 8-10 reps, 2 minute rest

    Day 2: Lats (seated cable rows or kneel on bench dumbbell row) 2-3 sets x 8-10 reps, 2 minute rest

    Day 3: Hamstrings (single leg Romanian deadlifts) 2-3 sets x 8-10 reps, 2 minute rest

    This is a simple design and you should be able to get something out of this. This isn't ideal but it's better than nothing.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
    Here is a great post about lifting programs. As others have said, most will require more than 10 minutes per day. Strength programs with heavyish weights require rest time between sets.

    I guess if you aren't willing to dedicate more time, you could try to do a circuit type workout with little to no rest time. But that would likely be more of a conditioning workout than strength or hypertrophy.

    Deadlifts are a good move to hit the back, traps, and hamstrings. 10 minutes might be enough time to get a warm up done...
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
    edited December 2017
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    http://www.furman.edu/sites/first/Documents/16_oct2324.pdf

    Look at these, pick one or two a day and do several sets. As an add on.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Kick backs with the cable machine because they're strengthen your triceps and improve your polling on skis.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    for back in general, facepulls and/or rows. for lats, does your machine have pullup handles? if not, then do pulldowns instead. also single-sided rows from the bench, with the dumbbells. if you're not into bench press, you could still use it to get started on incline pushups - controlling your shoulder position on those does good things for your back.

    for hamstrings, there's a thing called a cable pull-through you could google. or deadlift variations with the dumbbells. bridges or hip thrusts involving the dumbbells and/or the bench.

    i kind of agree that ten minutes per day isn't much time, but nickels and dimes are still nickels and dimes so they add up. just not very fast or very extensively.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    amandaeve wrote: »
    I am looking for a 10-minute strength-building routine to do 3 times a week. I have dumbbells, a bench and a cable machine at my disposal. I want to focus on triceps, upper back/lats, hamstrings and anything else I can fit in 10 minutes. This is just to augment cardio and body-weight exercises I already do every day. I have a few extra minutes to kill and a few muscles that feel like they need more. What do you think I should do?


    What, specific, muscles do you feel need more - and why? Additionally, what are you doing for a bodyweight routine?

    The answer(s) will help us give better feedback. Because 10 minutes for a full routine may not be enough, although it could probably be done - especially with bodyweight. Yet, 10 additional minutes for extra, on top of an existing routine? Could likely be quite beneficial.

  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
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    Thanks for commenting, everyone. I think I have an idea now of what I want to do. I take a boxing class 5 days a week that takes us through various planks, pushups, situps, medicine ball work (something different every day). It's weird not lifting with weights, but I am seeing results. However, my morning classes recently switched to a 45-minute format instead of 60 minutes. I know it doesn't seem like much, but in the past 2 months I've noticed a difference in my body. All that extra 15 minutes does it get me to work earlier, so I'd rather do a little more in the gym. My triceps and hamstrings seem like my weakest links (compared to my quads and biceps, which are likely stronger from my other activities) and I used to have a stronger upper back (lat pull downs was a favorite). I get about 14 hours a week of exercise total (mostly aerobic), and I'm happy with how I am progressing physically. I'd just like to make the most use I can out of those few extra minutes.

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