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By Heather Moreno
Co-Creator of Trainer To Go

You can skip your strength training routine for a week or two and it doesn’t take long to get back to where you were.  But, put it on the back burner for much longer than that and you may find you’re lacking much of the strength and tone you worked so hard to get.

If your schedule calls for a reduction in your exercise time, follow these simple rules for a powerful strength workout that will keep you in shape and ready to go once your schedule returns to normal:

First, get the most out of the time you spend: Multi-joint exercises help you do more in less time.  For example, a pushup is a multi-joint exercise because both the shoulder and elbow joints are moving.  The triceps kickback is a single joint exercise, as only the elbow is moving.  The pushup works several muscle groups (chest, shoulders, triceps – even abdominals for stabilization) while the triceps kickback works only the triceps. 

Try these six moves: walking lunges, inner thigh squats, pushups, back rows, shoulder press and bicycle crunches.

Second, one set is enough:  Two to three sets of each strength training exercise will certainly increase your strength and tone to a greater extent, but one set is sufficient to maintain your strength and even gain a little.  When time is of the essence, one set will do.

If you’re used to a warm up set, instead do a full body warm up on an elliptical trainer or simply do jumping jacks for a few minutes before you begin lifting. 

Third, you can even reduce your workout frequency:  Strength training one day per week will maintain your strength.  While two or three times a week is ideal, we’re talking crunch time.  Once per week will make sure you don’t lose ground and will keep you in the habit.

And yes, you still have to stretch! 

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