In college, have you ever had that friend who claimed to be at the library for 8 hours, pulled an all-nighter and still questioned why he or she failed their exam? I’m sure you have. Though it is puzzling to them, you knew they spent at least 6 of those 8 hours distracted by Facebook, Instragram and Snapchat. What was missing here? The quality of the time spent at the library. As a result, poor results.

Similarly with working out, some may assume the longer we stay in the gym, the better results we will achieve. However, what is the reality of human nature at the gym? We spend a lot of our time looking for the right song, taking a Snapchat of us on the treadmill to prove we were working out, talking to our gym partner, and watching the clock. At the end of the day, how much time was spent actually working out?

Alternatively, you can get just as good a workout in a focused 30 minutes as you can in a half-distracted 1 hour. A focused 30 minutes is quick and pushes you to up the intensity to get your minutes worth of sweat in. Maybe you only have 30 minutes to get a workout in but choose to skip because you believe it is too short a time and it would just be a waste. Not true! Quality > quantity.

Next time you get up to go to the gym, try this quick interval 30 minute full-body workout!

1 Minute Sprint

50 Jump ropes

12 Bicep curls

12 Shoulder press

12 Chest press

12 Lunges

12 Squats

12 Stiff-legged deadlifts

Repeat X2