CONDENSED WORKOUTS
Far too often, people believe that you need tons of exercises to get good results in fitness. Of course if you like to do a variety of exercises, go ahead. I'm not saying that can't work. I'm just saying that it isn't the only way. Condensed or Limited Programs can work great. Some of the all time great strongmen in history built themselves up on only a handful of exercises. Paul Anderson who is considered one of the strongest men of all time, built himself up primarily on the Overhead Press and the Squat. The first Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott, built up his chest primarily on Neck Press and Wide Grip Dips. These are just two examples. A very popular workout routine years ago was the 8 Sets Of 8 Reps program. One exercise per major bodypart was chosen and it was done for 8 sets of 8 reps. That's all you would do for that muscle group. It worked great then and it still works great!
So when constructing a condensed workout, it needs to of course be set up in such a way so that you hit all the major muscle groups. To simplify things, it should include:
1) UPPER BODY PUSH
2) UPPER BODY PULL
3) SQUAT OR OTHER LEG EXERCISE
You can also add in a core exercise, but keep in mind that if the exercise are chosen properly, the core will get plenty of training from those alone. So for the purpose of this post, I will only use three exercise programs as examples. Here they are.
Chinups
Dips
Squats
Incline Bench Press
Bentover Row
Front Squats
Dumbbell High Pulls
One Arm Dumbbell Floor to Overhead Press
Goblet Squats
Inverted Body Rows
Wide Grip Pushups
Jump Squats
Upright Rows
Arnold Press
Deadlift
There you go! A few examples of condensed workouts you can try. Remember always that like many things in life, quality is far more important than quantity. Here's a video of a condensed workout that I did this morning.