Somewhere along the line, it seems to have become embedded in our collective consciousness that a workout should last 60 minutes – and that, on average, it’s something we should do between three and five times a week.
It’s a little arbitrary, but for those of us who can stick to it, it’s not a bad rule to go by.
That being said, what if you can’t manage four or five 60-minute sessions a week? What if you struggle to manage a single 60-minute session in one sitting? Should you resign yourself to making no progress whatsoever if you can only train for 60 minutes across the entire week?
The answer to that last question is no. As ever, something is better than nothing, and if you find yourself terminally pressed for time, we've got you covered.
This training plan is designed around no more than three 20-minute sessions a week, for a total of 60 minutes. (Sorry to be sneaky, but that doesn’t include your warm-up time. We’ll leave that part up to your discretion.)
The 60 Minutes Per Week Training Plan
The plan uses a combination of escalating density training – meaning you’ll always have a built-in way to progress your workouts, even though you’re time-pressed – and upper- and lower-body pairings, meaning you’re training most major muscle groups in every session.
What to read next
You’re going to perform four movements in each of these 20-minute sessions, split across two 10-minute blocks.
Each block will consist of a pair of movements – one upper-body exercise and one lower-body exercise – that you’ll work alternate between, attempting to achieve as many high-quality reps as possible within the 10-minute block.
Make a note of the weights you use and the total number of reps you accomplish for each movement. The next week, when you come back to that same pairing, try to beat your score.
The ‘escalating’ part of escalating density training means that once you can beat your original reps score by around 20%, you add more weight or make the movement harder. Then you begin the process again.
This means you’re constantly progressing in either reps or weight.
Because you've only got 60 minutes to play with each week, you'll need to hit each of these 10-minute blocks like an absolute mad dog, intent on beating your scores every time, to make serious progress.
You can follow this format and put your own week of training together using your favourite movements, or follow the example training week below.
How to Build Your Own 60-Minute Training Week
Across the three sessions, you’re aiming to cover all of the major movement patterns:
- A vertical push (think shoulder pressing)
- A vertical pull (think pull-ups or pull-downs)
- A horizontal push (bench press, push-up or dips)
- A horizontal pull (barbell, dumbbell or cable rows)
- A squat pattern (any type of squat)
- A deadlift or hinge pattern (Romanian deadlifts, conventional, dumbbell or barbell)
- A lunge or single-leg pattern (with dumbbells, kettlebells, a bar or your bodyweight)
- A core pattern (hanging leg raises, sit-ups, crunches etc.)
Each workout consists of two 10-minute blocks. Pair one upper-body movement with one lower-body or core movement in each block.
Workout One (template)
10-Minute Block One
A1. Vertical Push: [insert your favourite/ least favourite movement here]
A2. Squat Pattern:
10-Minute Block Two
B1. Horizontal Pull:
B2. Core Pattern:
Workout Two
10-Minute Block One
A1. Horizontal Push:
A2. Deadlift or Hinge Pattern:
10-Minute Block Two
B1. Vertical Pull:
B2. Lunge or Single-Leg Pattern:
Workout Three
10-Minute Block One
A1. Upper-Body Movement:
A2. Lower-Body Movement:
10-Minute Block Two
B1. Upper-Body Movement:
B2. Lower-Body or Core Movement:
The final session gives you another opportunity to train the whole body while adding extra work for the patterns or muscles you want to prioritise.
You could repeat movements from earlier in the week, choose close variations or use this third session to address your own priorities.
For example, you might repeat a pressing pattern if building your chest and shoulders is the goal, add another pulling movement to increase your back volume or include a second squat, hinge or single-leg exercise if you want to prioritise your lower body.
Whatever movements you choose, keep the pairings practical. Avoid combining two exercises that require pieces of equipment on the other side of the gym, or that take a lot of faffing around if changing the set-up will waste valuable time.
Alternate between sets of the two movements for the full 10 minutes, resting only as necessary to keep your reps controlled. The target number of reps you complete per set will vary depending on the exercise you've picked (check out the example training week below for guidance).
Record the weight and total reps completed, then aim to beat that score the next time the session rolls around.
Once your rep total has increased by roughly 20%, add weight or progress to a more difficult variation.
In the age of apps, a pen and paper notebook is ideal for this.
Example Training Week
Workout One
10-Minute Block One
A1. Dumbbell Front Squat
Aim for 8–12 reps per set.
A2. Dumbbell Overhead Press
Aim for 6–10 reps per set.
Alternate between the two movements for 10 minutes, resting only when necessary to keep form tight.
10-Minute Block Two
B1. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
Aim for 8–12 reps per set.
B2. One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Aim for 8–12 reps on each side.
Workout Two
10-Minute Block One
A1. Reverse Lunge
Aim for 6–10 reps on each leg.
A2. Pull-Up or Lat Pulldown
Aim for 5–10 reps per set.
10-Minute Block Two
B1. Dumbbell Floor Press
Aim for 8–12 reps per set.
B2. Hanging Leg Raise
Aim for 10–15 reps per set.
Workout Three
10-Minute Block One
A1. Heavy Goblet Squat
Aim for 10–15 reps per set.
A2. Chin-Up
Aim for 4–8 reps per set.
10-Minute Block Two
B1. Kettlebell Swing
Aim for 10–15 reps per set.
B2. Push-Up
Aim for 10–15 reps per set.
How to Earn Extra-Curricular Gains
To maximise your progress outside of these 60 minutes, try to get in as many steps as possible and keep yourself moving throughout the day (we know that sounds obvious, but how many of us actually do it?).
So yes, do all of the basic stuff you’re probably bored of hearing by now. Take the stairs, not the lift. Walk up escalators, don't stand. Park as far away from the shops as possible. Take meetings on the move and try to get in a quick 10-minute walk after every meal to double down on the effect and help support healthy blood sugar control.
For even more bonus points, crack out some push-ups and squats when you first get up in the morning and before you go to bed at night. It’s surprising how quickly those reps can add up when you consciously perform them consistently every day.
Other than that, enjoy your 60 minutes. Godspeed.
If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.
Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? CLICK HERE to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.
With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
