But what you might not know is that working out has a huge effect on your state of mind. Tons of endorphins are released taking the edge off and allowing you to relax, and you feel good when you’re done. If you are relaxed you will be able to focus better on your daily work load and not feel like acting out scenes from Fight Club.

But the ever present issue of never having enough time is the biggest obstacle. The misconception that you have to spend an hour or more in the gym is old school and outdated.

In fact shorter, more intense workouts will be a better choice if your goal is to gain muscle and lose fat. By jacking up the intensity with moderate-to-heavy weights and decreasing the rest periods between sets, you are going to quickly see huge changes.

The Fast Fitness for College Students workout will consist of a strength training circuit utilizing a barbell, a dumbbell, a cable machine, bodyweight movements or a combination of all four. Everything you can find in a typical campus weight room.

Our goal is to create a workout that is high impact training that gets fast results for the college student who has no time to train!

Workout Structure

• 1A) Full Body Exercise
• 1B) Upper Body Pulling Exercise
• 1C) Upper Body Pushing Exercise
• 1D) Core Exercise
• 1E) Interval Conditioning

1A, 1B, 1C and so on. This means that you will move from exercise to exercise with little to no rest. It will take you a few seconds to transition so try to keep it less than 30 seconds. There will also be some pre-work that has to be done prior to your training session to setup equipment so you can quickly move between exercises. For example if you are doing a deadlift into a dumbbell bench press, get the dumbbells ready right near the bench before you start.

Do not pick a weight that is too light where you can get a ton of reps and do not pick a weight that is too heavy where your form is horrible. Form is of the upmost importance!

Also, as you get stronger and more conditioned, you can repeat the workout twice or even three times. This will accelerate your muscle building and fat loss adaptations.

Sample Workout 1

• 1A) Barbell Clean & Press (from the floor), 8 reps, 30 sec (or less) rest
• 1B) Barbell Bent Over Rows, 8 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1C) Push-ups, 20 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1D) Hanging Leg Lifts from pull-up bar, 10 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1E) Exercycle Intervals, sprint 30 sec, moderate pedaling 30 sec, repeat for 5 minutes

How long will the workout take? Let’s figure it out.

Barbell C&P – 8 reps x 4 seconds per rep + 30 seconds rest = 62 seconds
Barbell Rows – 8 reps x 3 seconds per rep + 30 seconds rest = 54 seconds
Push-ups – 20 reps x 3 seconds per rep + 30 seconds rest = 90 seconds
Leg Lifts – 10 reps x 3 seconds per rep + 30 seconds rest = 60 seconds
Exercycle – 5 minutes = 300 seconds
Total: 566 seconds = 9.43 minutes

Here are some more sample Fast Fitness for College Student workouts to try:

Sample Workout 2

• 1A) Deadlift, 8 reps, 30 sec (or less) rest
• 1B) Chin-ups, 8-10 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1C) Dips, 20 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1D) Cable Woodchoppers from low pulley, 15 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1E) Jump Rope, fast 30 sec, moderate 30 sec, repeat for 5 minutes

Sample Workout 3

• 1A) Squat, 8-12 reps, 30 sec (or less) rest
• 1B) Seated Cable Rows, 12 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1C) DB Clean & Press, 10 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1D) Reverse Crunches, 15 reps, 30 sec rest
• 1E) Treadmill, sprint 30 sec, jogging for 30 sec, repeat for 5 minutes

Now, do you have 9.43 minutes in your day that you waste? I am guessing yes.

You see the key is not only volume, but intensity. If you get in and kill it, you don’t need to spend countless hours doing tons of sets.

Strength training circuits have great benefits because of the high lactic acid environment that they create. This type of workout releases natural growth hormone which is responsible for building muscle and burning fat stores.

Get started today and set aside 9.43 minutes three times a week and you’ll start feeling better immediately.

Jim Smith, CSCS is a highly sought after lecturer, author, consultant and renowned strength coach. Jim is an expert for Men’s Fitness and a member of the Elite Fitness Q/A staff. Jim’s new product on how to build muscle, lose fat – all with only 3 short workouts a week will be out soon. Check it out!