The Workouts 6 Trainers Do When They Only Have 15 Minutes

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• THE HIT-EVERY-MUSCLE WORKOUT

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For all of the time they spend in the gym telling others how to get fit, personal trainers don’t always have a lot of time for their own workouts. (Seriously!) But here’s the thing: They know how to make every moment count. Check out their favorite ways to get a marathon-worthy burn in 15 minutes flat

• • THE HIT-EVERY-MUSCLE WORKOUT

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  “I love doing intervals when I’m tight on time! Not only do they give greatsweat, but your body also will burn more calories as your body temperature rises, and you hit 80 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. One of my favorites is to complete 10 burpees, 10 jumping lunges, 10 star jumps [like a jumping jack, but jumping into the air], 10 clapping pushups, and 10 medicine ball slams. I rest two minutes and then do it all again as many times as I can in 15 minutes.” —certified strength and conditioning specialist Tara Romeo, assistant director of the Professional Athletic Performance Center in New York

• • THE SUPER-FAST FARTLEK WORKOUT

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  "Big, compound movements with very little rest are my exercises of choice. They hit big muscles for a big calorie burn and a lot of results in a short amount of time. For example, some days I’ll warm up for a couple of minutes by jumping rope. Then I’ll do some squats, dumbbell incline bench presses, pullups(inverted rows also work!), dumbbell split squats or forward lunges, and then finish things off with some shoulder presses. Doing it all with minimal rest in between my sets is key.” —certified strength and conditioning specialist Meka Gibson, general manager at DavidBartonGym Miami

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  • THE 2-MOVE WORKOUT

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  “If I'm feeling like a run or had a run in my schedule, I will head right out my door for a quick fartlek. I'll start with about five minutes of easy running and then sprinkle five to 10 surges throughout the rest of my run. As in, I'll run fast for about 20 to 30 seconds, then slow to somewhere around a tempo pace—or 10-K pace—for a minute or two, then surge again, and repeat. It's a funworkout, I'm done in only 15 minutes, and I'm able to actually get in a pretty good workout, too, as I am tapping into different paces and sending my heart rate up and down.” —certified strength and conditioning specialist Kourtney A. Thomas, owner of Lagniappe Fitness in St. Louis

• • THE BODY PART-SPECIFIC WORKOUT

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  “When I'm limited on time, I’ll complete two moves: the squat to overhead pressand the inverted row. I alternate back and forth between sets of each, completing as many as I can in the timeframe I have. It's awful. And awesome.”—certified strength and conditioning specialist Mike Donavanik, creator of Extreme Burn 

• • 3-MOVE METABOLIC RESISTANCE TRAINING WORKOUT

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  “Strength training is always my priority. So even if I don’t have much time, I pick one muscle group and then hit it as hard and fast as possible. Maybe it’s my back or shoulders or core. But I’ll choose about thee exercises that work that muscle group and complete them with very little rest. The truth is it’s incredibleworkout. The muscle group gets hit so thoroughly in 15 minutes that you can cause legitimate change in your body. You’re doing more than burning calories.”—certified strength and conditioning specialist Holly Perkins, author of Lift to Get Lean and founder of Women's Strength Nation

• • 3-MOVE METABOLIC RESISTANCE TRAINING WORKOUT

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  “One of the best ways to get a bang for your buck when crunched for time is to do metabolic resistance training. It’s basically high-intensity interval training with weights. My favorite MET workout is a 15-minute AMRAP [as many rounds as possible] circuit, meaning that I do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes. Each round consists of 10 reps of these three exercises performed with as little rest as possible in between: the squat to overhead press, the deadlift with bent-over rows, and bar hop overs [where you put a dumbbell on the ground and hop side-to-side over it].” —Brett Hoebel, 20-Minute Body creator and former trainer on NBC's The Biggest Loser