20-Minute Workouts

Back at New Year's, Toronto Trainer Chris Lopez gave me an advanced fat burning 20-minute workout that was one of the best programs I've come across in a long time. TT Members were loving every minute of the 20-minute resistance workout for fat loss.

There may be no luckier - or busier - man alive than Chris Lopez. He's the father of 4 beautiful girls (ages 9, 4, 2 & 4-months). As a result of his above-average fertility prowess and his work as one of Toronto's most in-demand trainers, Chris is also the world's busiest dad.

Today, Chris is here to help out other busy mom's and dad's (and dog owners!) who need to lose fat while on the go-go-go.

CB: Chris, I don't have any kids, let alone 4 daughters. So tell me about the day-to-day fitness and fat loss challenges of busy parents.

CL: 
Time and nutrition are the biggest obstacles to success. 

If you're trying to eat clean and healthy, it's tough to stay on track when there are cookies and chips in the house. 

Now I know people say that you shouldn't be feeding that stuff to your kids, but I live in the real world. All kids, at some point, enjoy their treats and I'm not one to deprive them of that.

The key for both of these struggles (lack of time and nutrition) is preparation - having a plan. You need to know when your time to train will be (for me, it's 20-minutes around lunch time) and when
your meal prep time is (Sunday afternoons).

Find the time, book it and try not to deviate from that.

CB: OK, so what workouts are best for busy parents who want to lose fat?

CL: 
Busy parents have to keep it SIMPLE.

The basic moves (squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushes, pulls) are the most effective. Using those movements with challenging resistance will always trump any move you can do on a wobble board or BOSU ball. 

The basics, coupled with fat burning intervals (sprints, barbell complexes, hybrid exercises, tabatas or body weight circuits) will give even the busiest mom or dad amazing fat loss results.

I never have more than 20 minutes per day to burn fat, so I alternate between resistance workouts and fat burning interval workout days.

Also, with the limited time, INTENSITY plays a huge roll.

But QUALITY beats QUANTITY every time.

I also limit my rest time to no longer than 60 seconds between sets to get more done in less time.

CB: What equipment and space do you need for your workouts?

CL: 
I'm at the point right now where I could train a client in an 8x8 foot space...imagine something the size of an empty elevator. All you need is your bodyweight and a space that big. 

CB: Any equipment?

CL:
Sure, a chin-up bar is a plus, and if you're in a gym, that's even better, but you can still burn a ton of fat without equipment.

While many of my clients have decent home gym equipment, for the ones that don't, I get them to buy a chin-up bar and I bring a kettlebell and a medicine ball for their workout. 

By far though, my favourite piece of equipment is a set of blast straps. 

CB: Yeah, I have a set of those. Great stuff.

CL:
They're so versatile. 

I can hook them up to a chin-up bar, a set of goal posts on a soccer field, I've even rigged them to the roof rack of our mini-van.

CB: What's a mini-van? Nevermind. Tell me the best exercises you use, and tell our readers about some of the most overused exercises you see people wasting their time with.

CL:
Compound movements are the best ones to use (sorry for the trainer lingo...by compound movements, I mean squats, deadlifts, lunges, presses, rows, chins and their variations). 

These, by far, cause the most "Turbulence", as you might say.

One of my favourite exercises is using a combination of these exercises with a barbell in a hybrid lift.

Over rated exercises, I find, are the ones that use only one joint, such as lateral raises, knee extensions, cable cross-overs - these are all fine and good if you're a bodybuilder or have a lot of time to spend in the gym. 

But I don't have one client who has that kind of time.

And truthfully, all my clients, and myself, would rather be spending that time with their families. 

CB: Do you use any exercises that most other trainers overlook?

CL:
Too many trainers neglect the importance and effectiveness of bodyweight exercises. 

Classic push-ups, chins, bodyweight squats and pistols are by far my favourites and are staples in all of my client's workouts, even for beginners. They may appear difficult, but there are a lot of ways to modify the exercise to accommodate a beginner's strength levels.

And everyone that does my bodyweight workouts LOVES them.

CB: So what is your key to the succes of all your busy parent clients who stay so lean and fit?

CL:
The key is the QUALITY of work. 

Do the things that will give you the most bang for your buck. 

CB: As a busy dad, you've told me that you'll work out anywhere, so give me a story about the strangest place you've worked out?

CL:
Funny you asked, the mini-van came in handy on this one. 

I was on my way to picking-up my 9-year-old from school one day this past spring. I had a really long day - I trained 9 clients that day in a 10-hour span - and was pretty much spent. 

I was in for an even longer night with either a soccer game or practice in addition to making dinner for the family (what can I say, I like to cook). I knew I had to get an endorphin rush to make it through the rest of the evening and I hadn't trained myself at all. 

So I got to the school early and set-up shop in the parking lot. 

CB: You worked out in the parking lot at your kid's school?

CL:
I had my blast straps, a 54lb kettlebell, and my sled.  

I started with some mobility drills and a bodyweight circuit and then started training hard. 

I hooked up my blast straps to one side of the roof rack and opened the sliding sliding door of the van on the other side. I set up a superset of kettlebell snatches & push-ups and then another of
inverted rows and pistols. I was really working hard and managed to build-up an audience of kids looking out their classroom window.

When I was done, my daughter came out of class and I had her sit on the sled with the kettlebell and did some drags for my metabolic work.

CB: For all the parents out there that aren't as fit as they want their kids to think, what is the best way to do interval training?

CL: 
One of my favourites is using a Tabata protocol with kettlebell swings. 

(Ooops, there goes my trainer lingo again...a "Tabata" is a series of eight 20-second intervals followed by a 10-second rest. So you go 20-on, 10-off, and do that 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.)

That's "4-minutes from hell with a kettlebell". But nothing beats sprinting on a track, in my opinion. 

And all parents will love this one...

Doing a bodyweight circuit in the bathroom while the kids are having a meltdown is great stress relief. And burns fat too. Sometimes you just gotta do what you can to get away.

CB: You workout in the bathroom a lot?

CL:
Not really.

I'm lucky because there are 2 or 3 schools in the neighbourhood with great outdoor facilities where I can do intervals. There's just something about getting out in the sun and doing your workout. When I'm out there, I'll usually go more for distance than for time. 

I'll start off with 400m runs and do 2 or 3, then drop down to 200m and do 3 or 4 and finish with 3 or 4 100m sprints (if I have anything left in the tank). Those 200's really take it out of you - so that's obviously not a beginner program. Safety first!

CB: Safety first indeed.

Grab a FREE COPY of Chris's 20-Minute Dumbell and Bodyweight Fat Blasters here:

=> Click Here for the Fat Blasting Workout

20-minute workouts without the leg warmers,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS - Chris has another FREE REPORT on...

"The 9 Life Secrets to STOP Wasting Your Time".

Grab it here:

=> Click Here to Save Time