[WOTM, 08/2014] Reconstruct Your Physique Over Lunch With The 30 Minute Total Body Blaster Circuit
Stttttrrrrrrrrrrrretched for time?
We’ve got your back. And your path to a completely overhauled physique. Just chop off a quick 30 minutes. That’s it.
August’s WOTM—The 30 Minute Total Body Blaster Circuit—is a hyperfast, minimal rest, total body slobberknocker that smashes everything from top to bottom, including your legs, abs, shoulders, chest, and back. Above all else, it emphasizes efficiency to spark BIG change — fast.
By blending supersets, drop sets, and powerful multi-joint compound exercises, it’s designed to quickly elevate heart rate, tear up multiple muscle groups at once, and condense a MASSIVE workload into one tight, explosive gauntlet. It takes all of the elements of a traditionally bloated workout plan, trims the excess fat (i.e. extended rest and isolation movements), infuses a little velocity, and prioritizes the pieces that most effectively chisel out a stunning body.
It’s fast, the moves are killer, and you will sweat up a tsunami. But that burn converts to potent results.
Altogether, that formula produces a workout circuit that’s laced with muscular explosiveness and skyrocketing intensity — both of which combine to accelerate metabolism, ignite calories, dig into sticky fat stores, and churn through muscle fibers. All in a hellacious half hour.
Bust out of the office and plow through it over lunch. Do it as a quickie first thing in the AM. Throw it in as a replacement for whatever nonsense you’re watching pre-dinner. Whenever. Prioritize, focus, and GET IT IN.
The 30 Minute Total Body Blaster Circuit
August’s WOTM is designed as an INTENSE full-body stopgap for anyone that’s short on time or needs to squeeze in an accelerated workout. Feel free to indulge two days in a row, but give your muscles a break once every 3 days.
- Rest as little as possible in between sets — shoot for 30 seconds. The workout’s effectiveness is predicated on speed and intensity. Focus and burn through it as quickly as possible.
- Aim to decrease your total workout time in each successive workout. As your body gets stronger, you’ll be able to soar through it more quickly. Increase the weight once it becomes too easy.
- Complete ALL reps for each set with proper form. We LOVE turbocharged intensity, but make sure you’re doing everything under control. Sacrifice weight if needed.
*Click on each applicable exercise name for a full pop-out video demo. A printable recap is available here.
1. Burpees
How To:
Protocol: 1 set — 20 reps
Target Muscle(s): Legs, Chest
- (1) Start in a standing position, squat down, and kick your legs out into full push-up position.
- (2) Do 1 push-up, hop forward into a low squat position, and explosively jump upwards into the air. Return to the ground, squat down, and repeat the rest of the movement for 10 total reps — each burpee should be one fluid motion.
2. Lunging Bicep Curls
How To:
Protocol: 2 sets — 10 reps per leg
Target Muscle(s): Legs, Butt, Biceps
The motion is exactly the same as a dumbbell lunge, except that you’re adding a bicep curl at the bottom of the movement. This requires strong coordination and power across your forearms and biceps.
- (1) Stand tall with two dumbbells.
- (2) Lunge forward.
- (3) Curl the dumbbells up when you’re at the bottom of the movement.
- (4) Powerfully press your body upward and lower the weights. Complete 10 reps and repeat for the opposite side.
3. SUPERSET — Dumbbell Chest Press + Dumbbell Chest Flies
How To:
Protocol: 2 sets — 12 reps + 12 reps
Target Muscle(s): Chest
- (1) Complete 12 reps of the Dumbbell Chest Press. Lie flat on a bench and powerfully press a pair of dumbbells straight up over your chest. Lower slowly back down to chest height.
- (2) Immediately, without rest, grab a lighter set of dumbbells and do 12 Dumbbell Chest Flies. Squeeze the contraction at the top and lower back down until your triceps are parallel with the floor. Maintain a slight bend in your arms.
4. DROP SET — 1-Arm Dumbbell Rows
How To:
Protocol: 2 drop sets — 12 reps/arm + 12 reps/arm
Target Muscle(s): Back, Biceps
If you’ve never done a drop set, here’s how it works. They’re evil, but oh-so-potent.
Complete 2 sets of the 1-Arm Dumbbell Row—PER ARM, without rest—decreasing the weight used in each subsequent set. Drop the weight by roughly 25% from set-to-set. For example, you could do 12 reps with 60 pounds and then 12 reps with 45 pounds right after.
And then repeat that for the opposite side. Do two total drop sets.
- (1) Place your left knee and left hand firmly anchored on a flat bench. Your left hand should serve as support for your body.
- (2) Maintain a tight core and flat back, contract your lats and biceps, and slowly row the dumbbell upwards until it’s above your torso.
- (3) Slowly lower the dumbbell to a full extension so that your feel a stretch through your upper back. Repeat.
5. Goblet Squats
How To:
Protocol: 2 sets — 15 reps
Target Muscle(s): Legs, Butt, Shoulders, Arms
- (1) Stand upright and hold a dumbbell/kettlebell with two hands so that it’s in line with your collarbone. Keep it at this height throughout the movement to simultaneously hit the shoulders, biceps, and triceps, and maintain strong posture.
- (2) With your chest puffed out and your abs tight, slowly squat down until your quads are BELOW parallel. Hold for .5s and explode up through your butt. Ascend with the pressure on your heels, not your toes.
6. SUPERSET — Bicycle Crunches + Ab Plank
How To:
Protocol: 2 sets — 45 reps + 45 seconds
Target Muscle(s): Abs (All)
- (1) Do 45 Bicycle Crunches. Shoot your left leg out, bring your right knee in, and crunch your left elbow across your body. Repeat for the opposite side and continue to alternate.
- (2) Immediately roll over and hold a Plank for 45 seconds. Stay as flat as possible.
7. Dumbbell Clean & Press
How To:
Protocol: 2 sets — 10 reps/arm
Target Muscle(s): Shoulders, Triceps
- (1) Place a dumbbell in between your feet. Squat down and grab it with an overhand grip. That’s your starting position.
- (2) In one fluid motion, powerfully ascend, explosively pull the dumbbell up to your shoulder and flip it over, and then press it directly overhead. Keep your core tight and body upright.
- (3) Slowly lower the dumbbell down to your shoulder, drop it to your thigh, squat down and touch the dumbbell to the ground. Repeat for 10 reps per arm.
8. Dips
How To:
Protocol: 1 set — failure
Target Muscle(s): Chest, Triceps
- (1) Set-up on parallel bars. Lean forward slightly and slowly lower your body until your triceps are parallel with the ground.
- (2) Powerfully contract your triceps + chest and press all the way up. SQUEEZE at the top.
- (3) Do as many reps as possible (to failure). If you’re strong enough, hold a dumbbell between your feet — you’ll crank up the difficulty and put more pressure on your chest/triceps.
- (4) If regular dips are too difficult, do bench dips instead.
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Bryan DiSanto
I also contribute to Men's Health Magazine.
When I'm not working on my abs (or somebody else’s), whipping up avocado roses and avocado toast, or running a Tough Mudder, I'm probably yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.
Come be friends with me on Instagram (@BRYDISANTO) & Snapchat (BRYDISANTO).
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