Look at this little “pull-up” nerd having the time of her life!

This meme is the story of my gym life. Anyone who knows me knows I’m so full of crap when I say I’m going to the gym and will be about an hour. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I’ll actually be a good three hours.

I know I’m not the only meat head who bears this cross. And let’s be honest, nothing is worse than rushing through a workout. But alas, life gets in the way of our gains sometimes and for whatever reason, we gotta cut that session short.

In tragic times like these, I usually resort to my “Super Quick yet Very Effective Full Body Workout” which is plyometric style and incorporates a lot of body weight exercises.

Research shows that a high-output, body weight-based plyometric workout yields serious gains when time is of the essence. Not only are you building strength when you workout this way but you’re going at a fast pace so you’re also burning fat.

For this particular workout, you really don’t need any equipment other than a plyo box, kettle bell and dip/pull-up bars. In my case, I use the assisted pull-up machine which also helps me to fly through three of the six exercises: pull-ups, dips and hanging leg raises.

Do four sets of 15 reps for each of the following exercises.

Be sure to move quickly! You should be finished the whole workout in about 45 mins. to an hour.

1) Box Jumps
What’s a box jump?

2) Kettle Bell Sumo Squats
What’s a Kettle Bell Sumo Squat?

3) Assisted (or not) Wide Grip Pull-Ups
What’s a Wide Grip Pull Up?

4) Tricep Dips
What’s a Tricep Dip?

5) Hanging Leg Raises
What’s a Hanging Leg Raise?

6) Push ups
What’s a Push-Up? **Bonus points for trying one of these 113 variations**

And done! This is a great workout to incorporate into your regular gym routine once a week anyway. Body weight exercises are killer for not only strength gains but also performance improvements because they involve so many compound movements (meaning multiple joints and muscles are engaged throughout each exercise). Not to mention serious core strength development! Test it out and let me know what you think. 🙂

– Sam Shorkey, Jacked on the Beanstalk