Best Workout Schedule

By Craig Ballantyne

What's the best time to work out? And how should you organize your training? Weights first, then cardio? Or vice versa? Read almost any fitness blog or magazine, and you'll find a different opinion.

Instead of worrying about the right time and order, you need to find the best exercise program for you - one that you can easily fit into your busy schedule.

I designed my workout system, for instance, to be done in 45 minutes, three times per week. It allows you to do both resistance training and fat-burning interval training in the same session. (And most people can even do this in the comfort of their own homes.)

Here's how you use this system to build a better body:

Start with a total-body warm-up using bodyweight exercises. Do the following bodyweight circuit twice without resting: bodyweight squat, push-ups or kneeling push-ups, plank. (Do two sets of each exercise for 10 repetitions.)

Follow the warm-up with resistance-training supersets (pairs of exercises done back to back without resting). In your first superset, do an exercise for your lower body and an upper-body pushing exercise (such as lunges and push-ups). Do this superset three times. Rest a minute between supersets, and do 8-15 repetitions per exercise.

In your second superset, do a lower-body exercise and an upper-body pulling exercise (such as step-ups and dumbbell rows). Again, do the superset three times. Rest a minute between supersets, and do 8-15 repetitions per exercise.

After resistance training, rest one or two minutes and then do a short interval-training session.

Finish with stretching.

A simple yet powerfully effective workout like this will take less than 45 minutes. And you only have to do it three times per week to sculpt your body and burn belly fat.