Can’t Find Time For Fitness? Try Hybrid Exercises

Obesity has become the norm in our modern society and is negatively affecting millions of Americans as well as those around the world. One of the main reasons for obesity is the lack of exercise as well as eating unhealthy foods. American life is busy and the thought of scheduling time for workouts often leads us to ignore it.  We know better than to let our health slip away, but work and life can seem to be more important than exercise.

As our lives become more stressful we may need to reconsider the typical workout and redefine our exercise plan.  For starters, maybe spending hours at the gym is unrealistic and unnecessary.  Scientific studies have shown brief bouts of high intensity exercise improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity.  Is it possible to “get fit” in 20, 10, or even 5 minutes?  Read on!

There are efficient exercises which can be done daily in order to gain muscle tone and encourage weight loss and they’re called hybrid exercises.  Hybrid exercises involve combining two or more distinct movements into one uniform movement.  Confused? Don’t be, you’ve seen them before performed by Olympic  weightlifters or on The World’s Strongest Man Competition on ESPN.  Hybrid exercises have names like “clean-and-jerk” and “snatch” and they effectively compress multiple movements into one.  Instead of doing three or more exercises on different pieces of equipment you perform one hybrid exercise.  For example, you could perform a dumbbell squat followed by a dumbbell curl followed by a dumbbell shoulder press.  If you like Olympic weightlifting you could combine the power clean with the front squat with the push press. Or if you prefer gym machines you could combine squats on the cable stack with shoulder presses.

Trying different hybrid exercises will assist in toning your whole body and will assist it in losing weight. Before you begin, here are some tips for efficient exercises for muscle tone and weight loss.

In order to create a toned body you will need to provide resistance for your body to work against. You can use any sort of weights that you desire to create your workout: barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, gym machines, etc. You’ll want to start out slow and increase weight gradually. A good a rule of thumb is to select a training load that can be performed without overtaxing the weakest movement.  For example, you’ll be able to squat more weight than you can press overhead so don’t impair your technique by going too heavy.  Start your movements out slowly when you perform your hybrid exercises and only when your technique is mastered increase your speed.   If you train sloppy you will not give your body the required tension that it needs to build strength and endurance.

Warm-ups are absolutely needed. If you do not warm up before the exercise, there is a chance that you will injure yourself. When you initially start to exercise you may experience discomfort or pain as your body adjusts to hybrid exercise but after one or two weeks you will notice the pain leaving and you will begin enjoying the benefits of your new high octane exercise.

Hybrid exercises will begin to create a well toned body by helping you lose fat, increase lean muscle, and improve strength.  Most of the exercises that are needed to work your entire body are also easy to perform as hybrids (squats, lunges, pullups, pushups).

After you’ve identified the hybrid exercise you’d like to perform you can define the training protocol.  For example, you could perform each hybrid exercise for time (15 – 60 seconds) or for a designated number of reps.  You could start with once hybrid exercise performed for 1 – 3 sets and conclude your workout or perform another hybrid exercise.  Since the intensity will be high your workout will be shorter.  Try exercising 4 – 5 days per week and alternate hybrid exercises at each workout.

If you need more ideas on creating hybrid exercises here are some excellent exercises to consider:

• Back Squat & Press Behind Neck
• Front Squat & Push Press
• Walking Lunges & Dumbbell Shoulder Press
• Deadlift & High Pull
• Step-up, Dumbbell Curls & Shoulder Press
• Burpees, Pull-ups & Hanging Leg Raise
• Romain Deadlift & Bent-over Row
• Side bends, Oblique Crunches, Oblique cycle, and Side bends

Become familiar with the moves before getting too ambitious with the weights.  As you improve your strength and conditioning you’ll be able to increase the weight.  Finally, don’t forget to reducing excess calories and sugary foods from your diet to speed up weight loss and muscle recovery.

Got a favorite hybrid exercise?  Tell us about it in the comments.