This full body workout contains 5 compound moves and can be completed in less than 14 minutes. Whether you are squeezing in a quick nap time workout, or have the kids at your feet, you will still be getting a full body workout without the hours in the gym. Grab a set of dumbbells and get it done at home!

I think compound moves should be renamed as the busy-parent-who-still-wants-a-good-sweat move. 

But that does not fit nicely on a workout plan. 

Back when I had no children, and not a ton of other things to do besides work and hike, I spent a lot of time in the gym. 

In an actual gym. 

With other adults. 

I would run for a while and then lift for a while. It did not really matter if my workout took a full 60 minutes, or if I took an extra ten minute “stretch break” while I scrolled my phone. I could kind of just mosey my way through the lift and work one muscle group at a time. 

Now, with two young kids and one on the way, plus working from home, every single minute is precious when it comes to fitting in fitness. 

Let’s be real, every single minute of any type of self care (hello eyebrows) is precious.

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Effectiveness of Shorter Workouts

Full body at home workouts that are quick, focused, created as part of a comprehensive plan , and use compound moves are vital to take my limited workout time from semi-effective to massive impact.

Do not let Instagram fool you. Do not let that young personal trainer who has no kids and his social life is the gym lead you wrong. You can have an extremely effective workout in 20 minutes or less. 

For real life workouts with kids around, make sure you follow me on Instagram. Zoey and William often make appearances during my workouts and try to mimic what I am doing, which I find hilarious. I have only stepped on Zoey’s foot once, so I am doing pretty well throwing weights around while they are underfoot.

The key to shorter workouts is quality programming (meaning you are doing what is right for your body at the time), a plan of action (not just sitting on a machine debating what to do), and the desire to actually improve your health and fitness. 

Tired of guessing what to do in the gym? The Full Body Tone Routine gives you six weeks of focused workouts so you know exactly what to do with your workout time and can give yourself the most benefit with the time you have.

How To Do This Workout With Kids

This Busy Parent Workout: 40 Second Compounds can be done in 13 minutes and 20 seconds. Add in a short warm up and cool down and you are sitting right at 20 minutes for a solid sweat that conditions and tones more than one muscle group at a time. 

To be fair, this is a tough workout to do with the kids awake. If your children take a little more watching and have hands on needs, then getting through a 40 second round might be difficult as you take toys out of mouths, referee the sharing, and change a quick diaper. 

You can adapt it though and complete 12 reps of each move for 3-4 rounds instead of having to set a timer. Do whatever is going to work for you to get it done!

The workout is a bit better suited for nap time, after bedtime, or before the kids wake up in the morning. Of course, if your children are older (or better at entertaining themselves than mine are), go for it! It will not hurt them if they have to wait 40 seconds before you can attend to their needs.

A few no-screen activities you can use to keep your children busy with minimal supervision if you can only get it done with them awake:

• Craft project (stickers, markers, coloring books)
• Look and find books
• A silly snack – Just keep an eye on them for choking, but it will keep them busy for a while!
• Playdoh
• Let them use their own weights – This is the one my kids tend to do the most often.
• Yoto story cards (or dance party)
• Busy bag activity

What Size Weights To Use

Whether you opt to do this full body at home workout with a set of dumbbells (these Bowflex Adjustable Weights are my absolute favorites), or in the gym, I highly recommend you try to lift a little heavier than you have been. One of the biggest traps I see a lot of my personal training clients fall into is using light weights because they are afraid of bulking up, or that they cannot lift that much. 

You will not bulk. Women are not designed for that and it takes much more than a few strength workouts per week to build bulky muscle. At best, you are going to see some tone in all the right places. 

Remember, you can always lower your weight. Start a little heavier and if you have to pause mid-40 seconds to lower your weight, that is okay! At least now you know what your threshold is and you can skip the frustration of not seeing results after using five pounders. 

I love the Bowflex Adjustable Dumbbells for this exact purpose. I can use a heavier or lighter weight without having 12 sets of dumbbells under my feet and still get in a high quality full body at home workout.

Busy Parent Workout: 40 Second Compounds 

Complete each move for 40 seconds. Repeat for a total of 4 times through.

• three pulse lunge to back fly 
• squat to upright row 
• single leg deadlift with balance press 
• back tap with hammer curl 
• side lunge to push press 

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