Do you occasionally find yourself pressed for time when preparing for your workout? Or, maybe you just do not feel like going through your normal routine. You need something a little different! How about this?

This is a quick, ten minute workout to totally blitz the body. It is done on the line of circuit training except it is a mass gaining routine with heavy weights and lower to mid-range repetitions. You will take three basic, compound exercises which cover the chest, back and legs. Your other muscles will get plenty of stimulation from these compound pushing and pulling movements. You perform each exercise without rest in between. For example, we will take chin-ups for the back, parallel bar dips for the chest and squats for the legs. Start with the chin-ups and do as many repetitions as you can. Next, do the same with the dips, then go on to the squats. Try to perform each rep slowly, with emphasis placed on the negative, or downward portion of the movement. After the squats, take about ten seconds to catch your breath, then start the second cycle. Perform each rotation three to four times, then do a cool down and stretch and you are done. This routine can be followed any time you are short on time, or when you just need a little change of pace. You will definitely feel the muscles you worked out in this fashion the next day! You can substitute many exercises into the routine, as long as you make sure to do one exercise each for back, chest and legs.

Examples of exercises: (Choose one from each group)

Back: chins, bent rowing and t-bar rowing.

Chest: dips, bench press and push-ups.

Legs: squats, lunges, dead-lift and leg presses.

This program can also be done taking your normal rest periods between each set. Obviously, it will then take longer than ten minutes to complete, but it is a very substantial training routine. With the longer rest intervals, you will probably use more weight on the lifts, so you will build strength a bit quicker doing the routine in this manner. Either way, you are working the largest muscle groups which will add strength and mass very quickly to your body. Give it a try and see for yourself, what can be done in as little as ten minutes!

Dan's Health & Fitness http://pages.zdnet.com/dan4fitness