Who doesn’t want to spend less time working out while still getting a great workout?

For many people, time is one of the biggest barriers to exercise. Between work, kids, appointments, commuting, and everything else packed into the day, finding an uninterrupted hour to exercise isn’t always realistic.

The good news?

You don’t necessarily need an hour.

Interval training can help you make better use of the time you have. By alternating periods of harder effort with periods of recovery, you can challenge your cardiovascular system and build fitness without spending your entire morning or evening at the gym.

And sometimes, knowing you only need 20 or 30 minutes makes it much easier to actually get started.

What Is Interval Training?

Interval training simply means alternating between periods of higher and lower intensity.

For example, you might walk briskly for two minutes, increase your pace for one minute, and then slow down again.

You could do the same thing on a bike, treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine, or even while swimming.

Intervals can also work with strength training.

For instance, you might move through several strength exercises with short recovery periods between movements. Depending on your fitness level, that could include squats, lunges, push-ups, rows, planks, or other exercises.

The goal isn’t to destroy yourself for 30 minutes.

The goal is to challenge your body, recover, and then challenge it again.

You Don’t Have to Spend Hours Doing Cardio

Traditional cardiovascular exercise absolutely has benefits.

Walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, and other steady activities can improve cardiovascular fitness and should still have a place in an active lifestyle.

However, they’re not your only options.

If you’re short on time, adding intervals can increase the intensity of part of your workout without requiring you to exercise for an extended period.

The American Heart Association recommends that adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week. A combination of the two works as well. Strengthening activities should also be part of the overall plan.

Most importantly, some movement is better than no movement at all.

If you only have 20 minutes today, use the 20 minutes.

How Hard Should You Work?

You don’t need to push yourself to your absolute maximum during every interval.

In fact, you probably shouldn’t.

One way to gauge exercise intensity is through your heart rate.

According to the American Heart Association’s target heart-rate guidelines, moderate-intensity activity generally falls around 50–70% of your estimated maximum heart rate. Vigorous activity generally falls around 70–85%. These numbers are general guidelines rather than exact targets for every person.

A heart-rate monitor or fitness watch can make this easier to track.

However, you can also pay attention to how you feel.

During a recovery interval, you should feel your breathing begin to settle. Then, during the harder portion, you increase the challenge again.

Over time, your fitness level determines how intense those intervals become.

Start Where You Are

This part is important.

If you haven’t exercised regularly, don’t jump immediately into an advanced high-intensity interval training program.

Your body needs time to adapt.

Start with something manageable.

For example:

Walk comfortably for three minutes.

Then, walk briskly for one minute.

Return to your comfortable pace.

Repeat.

As your conditioning improves, you can gradually increase the intensity or duration of the harder intervals.

You don’t have to prove anything during your first workout.

Consistency will get you much further than doing one incredibly difficult workout and becoming so sore that you don’t exercise again for a week.

Combine Cardio and Strength Training

Intervals aren’t limited to running or cycling.

You can also create a workout that combines cardiovascular exercise, strength, and core movements.

For example, you might alternate between:

• Squats
• Push-ups
• Walking or jogging
• Lunges
• Rows
• Planks
• Step-ups
• Other movements appropriate for your fitness level

This approach keeps you moving while challenging different muscle groups.

Plus, it makes a 20- or 30-minute workout feel much less repetitive.

One of My Favorite Tools for Home Workouts: Fitbod

Sometimes the hardest part of exercising isn’t the workout itself.

It’s figuring out what to do.

That’s one reason I personally like Fitbod and use it frequently for my own home workouts.

You can tell the app what equipment you have available, how much time you have, your experience level, and your fitness goals. It then builds workouts around those factors and your previous training history. Fitbod also adjusts exercise selection based partly on muscle recovery and your logged performance.

I especially like this for home workouts because you don’t need a fully equipped gym.

Have dumbbells? Great.

Resistance bands? Use them.

Limited equipment? You can build around that too.

Only have 20 or 30 minutes?

You can adjust the workout duration instead of deciding you don’t have enough time to exercise at all. Fitbod currently allows workouts to be adjusted from 15 minutes up to 90 minutes, and it changes the number of exercises accordingly.

For me, tools like this remove one more excuse from the equation.

You Don’t Need the Perfect Workout

This is something I think people get wrong about fitness.

They spend so much time searching for the “perfect” workout that they don’t consistently do any workout.

Should I do cardio?

Weights?

HIIT?

Circuit training?

Strength training?

Walk?

Run?

The answer depends on your goals, fitness level, health history, and what you’ll actually do consistently.

A well-rounded fitness routine usually includes a combination of cardiovascular exercise, strength training, mobility, and recovery.

More importantly, it needs to fit into your life.

A 25-minute workout you consistently complete is far more valuable than the perfect 60-minute workout you never have time to do.

Change Your Workouts Occasionally

Your body adapts to what you repeatedly ask it to do.

That’s a good thing.

It means you’re becoming more efficient.

However, changing your workouts can help you continue challenging your strength, endurance, coordination, and mobility.

You don’t need to completely reinvent your exercise routine every week.

Instead, change variables periodically.

Increase the resistance.

Change your interval length.

Try different exercises.

Walk hills instead of flat ground.

Add strength training to a cardio-focused week.

You can also alternate more demanding days with lower-intensity activity.

Variety keeps exercise interesting and allows you to challenge your body in different ways.

Don’t Forget Recovery

Harder isn’t always better.

Recovery is part of training.

After a demanding interval or strength workout, your muscles need time to repair and adapt. That doesn’t mean you have to sit on the couch the entire next day.

Instead, try walking, gentle mobility work, stretching, or another lower-intensity activity.

Sleep matters too.

So does nutrition.

And if something hurts beyond normal post-workout soreness, pay attention to it.

We’ve written more about this in our article on lower back pain after a workout, including the difference between normal soreness and discomfort that may deserve a closer look.

Movement Quality Still Matters

This is where my chiropractor hat comes on.

Don’t sacrifice movement quality just because you’re trying to move faster.

If your ankle lacks mobility, your knee may compensate.

If your hip isn’t moving properly, your lower back may take on additional stress.

Likewise, restricted spinal movement can change the way you squat, run, rotate, lift, or perform other exercises.

That’s one reason chiropractic care can be such a valuable addition to an active lifestyle.

We aren’t simply interested in whether you hurt.

We want to know how your body moves.

For athletes and active adults, maintaining mobility and joint function can help the body move more efficiently. You can learn more about the role chiropractic plays in sports performance and athletic longevity.

Don’t Let “I Don’t Have Time” Become the Excuse

You don’t need two hours at the gym.

You don’t even need one hour.

Some days you may have 45 minutes.

Other days you may have 20.

Use what you have.

Interval training gives you another tool for making that time count. Meanwhile, strength training, walking, mobility work, and recovery can round out your week.

Start at a level that’s appropriate for you. Then build gradually.

Most importantly, be consistent.

Your body doesn’t need one perfect workout.

It needs you to keep moving.

And if an app like Fitbod helps remove the guesswork and gets you moving at home when you otherwise wouldn’t exercise, use it.

The best workout isn’t necessarily the longest one.

It’s the one you actually do—and keep doing.

Lasting results for all stages of life.