You are the kind of person who uses time efficiently. You multitask at home and work, while time you spend with family and friends is undistracted and purposeful, fostering better quality in those relationships. When something requires concentration, you block out interruptions and focus, perhaps setting a time goal on when that task is to be completed. Shouldn’t your time at the gym be the same?

This is a workout plan that is designed to get a lot done in a single hour at the gym. It engages different muscle groups in “triplexes,” that is, a workout structured around nine exercises using various body parts. When you finish one exercise within a triplex, you move on immediately to another – for example, a bicep exercise followed by one engaging the core then another focused on the legs. “Rest” time for one muscle really is exercise for another. You’ll pack more into 60 minutes than if you simply focused on one or two body parts that inevitably require 2-4 minute rest periods.

What are the results? For people who only manage to get to the gym half as many times as planned, those visits can become more effective. Even better for people who go frequently – your strength and muscle size gains (for men) will increase because you essentially are accomplishing an effort-dense workout (women don’t increase in size as much as men, but instead gain in strength and tone).

Other routines by this author focus on lower body and “push” mode exercises (e.g., chest and tricep presses, where the primary force on the weight is to push it away from the body). This is a “pull” mode workout – employing free weights, cables and machines to bring weight toward the body. Exercises use equipment commonly found in health clubs, however a home gym with simple dumbbells, weights and stability balls would suffice. Note that the lower body and “push” exercises are not excluded: each of these are to be performed with lighter weights but at higher repetitions.

Exercise program #3: “Pull” mode

As with the other workouts by this writer, the first modality is a “load,” meant to be performed with the greatest intensity for 8 to 15 reps. The second and third exercises are “unloads,” meaning they should be repeated ten to 20 times at lighter weights.

Triplex A

• Machine lat pull-downs (load) – Working muscles in the core, lats and arms, pull down on either a standard machine or cable-pulley system, concentrating as much on the downward as the upward-return movements. For variation, try a “super slow” approach by pulling and returning the weights on a count of 7 or more repetitions.
• Walking rotational lunges (unload 1) – Walk in a lunge fashion but add use of a light dumbbell or medicine ball. As the left leg lunges forward – right foot ahead of the left by three to four feet, with the back knee almost touching the floor while the right knee never extends forward of the right ankle – use both hands to hold the weight on the outside of the front leg, then lift it over your center and down on the right side as that leg lunges forward. Cover five or more lunges forward, and an equal number on the return.
• Floor crunch (unload 2) – The traditional crunch can be enhanced with use of a medicine ball on outstretched hands, and by raising up the torso on oblique (alternating off-center) angles.

Triplex B

• Cable rows (load) – Use a cable-pulley system to pull weight straight back on a horizontal plane, returning it with a slow, controlled movement. This can be done from a seated position, which isolates and therefore emphasizes effort in the back, or from a standing position, which then engages leg and core muscles in addition to the back.
• Rotational shoulder press (unload 1) – Using a dumbbell, press upward from the shoulder and twist it 90 degrees as you reach the top, twisting back as you return to the starting position. Can be done one arm at a time or both arms in unison.
• Medicine ball chops (load 2) – With both hands grasping either a light dumbbell or a medicine ball, stand with feet about three feet apart, bend from the waist to the left side with arms outstretched toward the floor and holding the weight. Rotate and rise upward, drawing a diagonal path to the upper right. Repeat ten to 20 times, then perform an equal number of repetitions from the opposite side.

Triplex C

• Dumbbell upright rows (load) – Standing with dumbbells in each hand, bend forward about 30 degrees at the waist and with a 90+ degree bend at the knees. Using muscles from the middle of the upper back, row up with the weights, pinching the shoulder blades together at the top and controlling the drop to the starting position. If you have lower back weakness, try this first using no weights. Throughout this exercise, crunch in the stomach muscles to firm up the core and lessen the possibility of strain on the back.
• One-leg squat (unload 1) – With or without added weights, balance on one leg with the other leg raised behind you. Dip as low as you can while maintaining balance and an upright torso, then rise up again.
• Stability ball Supermans (unload 2) – Face down, lay across a stability ball, balancing on the abdominal region. Raise both hands in front, flying Superman-style, then raise up one leg as well and hold for 1-10 seconds. Repeat and alternate legs.

Other advantages of “pull” exercises

Some pull exercises just happen to help build muscles that are missed in the “mirror check,” the parts of the body that people are less likely to work on because they don’t see them. Not only is it aesthetically important to balance development of muscles such as those found in the upper and lower back, but they also have a lot to do with good health. A weak back can derail exercise altogether, but back muscles can favorably affect your metabolism. This is because the back muscles are among the largest in the body. Muscles are metabolically more active than body fat, therefore the more muscle mass one has overall the higher the metabolism. With your larger back muscles burning off calories at a greater rate, you are less likely to have excess calories to store as body fat (this is one reason why bodybuilders have to eat six or more meals per day).

So how’s that for multitasking?

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Russ Klettke is an ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified fitness trainer and also the author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat, the regular guy’s guide to eating smart” (Marlow & Co., 2004, with Deanna Conte, MS RD LD), available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and more than 70 public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Complement your exercise with good nutrition: join Russ’ blog on cruciferous vegetables at CabbageUniverse.blogspot.com.