How to Burn More Calories by Cutting Your One-Hour Workout in Half

You might think it is perfectly reasonable to believe that a one-hour workout is always going to be superior to a 30-minute workout, and it certainly seems counterintuitive to think otherwise. Many workouts, however, are often highly inefficient and include far too much recovery time. This means that an athlete who makes efficient use of 30 minutes can get just as much done as most are able to during an hour-long session, all while burning more calories in the process.

“Recreational athletes doing traditional strength training exercises are most likely to be guilty of resting too much during a workout and therefore using their time inefficiently,” said Arturo Alvarez Demalde. “This may be due to checking their phones or chatting with a friend in between sets, but however that time is lost, it is important to note that the quality of the workout is significantly reduced as a result.”

Athletes like Randi Glazer have likely seen these benefits firsthand. With strength training in particular, many athletes have adopted a “push-pull” routine in which they work complementary muscle groups back-to-back. Instead of doing four or five sets of one exercise and then moving on to the next exercise, these athletes do the first set of the first exercise and immediately transition to the first set of the second exercise.

By doing this, the time needed to complete the first set of the second exercise serves as the rest period for the muscle group worked during the first set of the first exercise. After a brief rest, the process is repeated, thereby allowing athletes to get twice as much done in the same amount of time. There are many ways to implement this strategy, but the benefit is a more efficient use of time, more calories burned and the greater development of physical endurance.