The past several years have caused me to think of new ways to work out to challenge myself and to maximize my limited time. It is not always an easy task to find ways to accomplish this. However, I have found a great one to work my arms to exhaustion in 15 minutes.

In a previous article preparing for the summer, I discussed that it would suit most people who do not have spare hours to spend in the gym to try three whole body workouts and two cardio (at least two) each week instead. This is the best way to get in shape in a short period of time of eight weeks or less. To reach this goal for myself, I have been trying to mix up the routines as best as I can to keep them exciting and still prioritize one muscle group each session. This week my focus is arms.

While researching whole body workouts over the winter, I discovered an interesting article that called for timed sessions. The way they work are that you choose an exercise and do it for five minutes. For example: lat pull downs. Select a weight that you would normally use for a 10 rep set. Start your five minute timer. Do a set of 10 and then rest as briefly as you can and move on to the next set. Continue this cycle until the five minutes is over. I have to admit I was skeptical at first, but this was an amazing workout that pushes you in a very different way.

At the end of my last workout I applied this principle to my arms. I chose some dumbbells that I could do curls with for 10 reps; set up the lat pull down machine with a rope to complete tricep extensions; and grabbed a bench bar (45 lbs bar) and left the weights off.

I set the five minute alarm on my phone and began to do my dumbbell curls. I did 10 reps and rested for maybe 15 seconds and then started again. I did my best to keep the breaks short, even if it meant only doing six reps or whatever I could squeeze out.

After the alarm went off I did a short water break and moved onto the tricep extensions and worked it the same way as the dumbbell curls. Again, another water break and to the long bar curls. This time I did each set until failure. The first set I did about 25 curls, and then took a short break and started over. By the end of five minutes, I was struggling to get one.