As excuses go, ‘It’s too hot for a workout,’ should not be one that sees you miss a training session.
Instead, get savvy with your time.
According to the experts, a 15-minute intense workout is more than enough to get your heart-rate up and reap the benefits.
‘It’s all about exercising in short, sharp bursts, which push your body into the higher heart rate zones quicker than you normally would in a longer workout,’ says David Wiener, Training Specialist at AI-based fitness and lifestyle coaching app, Freeletics.
‘It’s a myth that you have to spend hours in the gym to get a “good” workout. It’s much more effective to work continuously at 100% effort for 15 minutes than completing a long workout at 50% effort.
The healthy stress your body undergoes during a HIIT session, for example, triggers autophagy, which is the process your body goes through to clean out damaged cells and regenerate newer, healthier cells. This helps the body achieve optimum health as well as being anti-ageing.’
However, it’s important to stay hydrated during summer sessions and go slow if you need to.
‘Working out in the heat is something that you can train your body to get used to,’ David adds.
‘When your body does begin to adapt, it will increase its sweating capacity and reduce the electrolyte concentration of the sweat to boost your ability to maintain a safe core body temperature. If you start to feel extremely tired, light-headed, disorientated, or nauseous, you should stop exercising, grab some water and find somewhere cool to sit.’
Short doesn’t necessarily mean easy. We’ve rounded up the best express workouts that can be done in under 15 minutes, so you have no excuses now…
Express Sculpt Class
Want to feel the burn? Then this class might be the one for you to try.
This Total Body Studio barre class, taught by Chiara Lewis, targets your core and glute muscles with compound and isometric moves designed to bring them to fatigue.
It’s challenging but very effective and great for improving posture and physique. In each position there are small sections of low-impact cardio bursts to elevate the heart rate, too. Expect your muscles to shake.
Length: 15 mins
Available on: Website
When: On-demand
Price: Free 7-day challenge for new members (no card details required); From £7.25 per month thereafter
Mama Strength Challenge
Personal trainer and pre/postnatal specialist Nicole Chapman has created some quick and effective content for mums.
The live workouts are done alongside her toddler Sofia and include strength training, full body stretches and sweaty circuits to bring you energy and focus.
Whether your children are five months or five years, these short workouts are suitable for all fitness levels.
Length: 10 mins
Available on: Instagram @iamnicolechapman
When: 7am, Monday-Friday
Price: Free
Quickie Classes
Lasting between 12 and 30 minutes, FLYLDN’s Quickie workouts are guaranteed to get you sweating in a short space of time.
Covering all aspects of Barre, Pilates and low-impact HIIT, sessions use bodyweight, dumbbells and resistance bands and each focuses on a body area; arms, booty, thighs, abs etc.
Length: 12–30 mins
Available on: Website and app
When: On-demand and live
Price: Free 7-day trial; £9.99 per month thereafter
The Seven-Minute Workout
Simply say ‘Start Seven-Minute Workout,’ to your Alexa device to begin this scientifically proven set of exercises to increase metabolism, improve energy, lower stress and blast body fat away.
Choose between low-impact, standard and advanced and two music options for your session.
Length: 7 mins
Available on: Alexa-enabled devices
When: On-demand
Price: Free
Weighted Core
WithU offers audio-based workouts that allow you to get out of the house and away from your digital device and TV.
It has an Express section with everything from yoga and breathwork sessions to bodyweight and core workouts, all under 15 mins. Simply filter the duration period on the app to find them.
The Weighted Core session incorporates four challenging dumbbell exercises designed to burn calories, tone and sculpt your abs. You’ll perform the moves for 30 seconds and rest for 10 for the duration of the class.
Length: 13 mins
Available on: WithU Training app
When: On-demand
Price: Free 14-day trial; £9.99 per month thereafter
Ass Express
Strength-based digital platform GRNDHOUSE has launched a series of shorter workouts that follow the same format as its full-length ones.
The Express Ass class is 15 mins of pure booty torture, with seven exercises back-to-back to fire up all areas of the glutes.
Expect single-leg movements specifically designed to isolate the glutes using a resistance band, including banded single-leg glute bridges and banded
single-leg raises.
Length: 10-20 mins
Available on: Website
When: On-demand
Price: £25 per month
15-Minute Fitness Training Journey
After an initial assessment, your Freeletics coach will create a training program tailored to your capabilities.
Sessions include a range of bodyweight-only exercises for all fitness levels.
Expect to do intervals and drills and a wide variety of exercises from burpees to bear crawls. Be warned, this is intense, full body and by no means an easy journey.
Length: 15 mins
Available on: Freeletics app
When: On-demand
Price: From £1.44 per week
AnticsFlex Full Body Fat Burn
If you’re looking for a workout with an awesome playlist, Antics Fitness has teamed up with radio station FlexFM to bring you a mix of exercise, music and plenty of banter along the way.
Personal trainer Ant Nyman provides the exercise and the terrible jokes, while DJ Sollie spins the tunes on the decks in a calorie- torching bodyweight session. Moves include squats, press-ups and plyometrics designed to burn fat.
Length: 15 mins
Available on: Website
When: On-demand
Price: £9.99 per month
Energy Shot
Fiit’s 10-minute high-intensity sessions are created and led by Fiit’s trainers including Gede Foster, Adrienne Herbert, Luke Baden and Courtney Fearon.
Sessions are short and sweaty with good vibes. In the session you’ll perform moves including high knees, lunges, squats and burpees. Choose them when you’re short on time, or tack them onto another workout for a cardio boost.
Length: 10 mins
Available on: Fiit app, Samsung TV, SKY Q, Amazon Fire TV
When: On-demand
Price: £20 per month
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