No Time for the Hybrid Routine?
The Hybrid Routine focuses on the essentials of bodyweight training and is designed to fit easily into most people’s lives.
However, be it due to work, studies, family responsibilities, or physically exhausting work, it may be challenging to do the routine as it is planned.
So how do we work around that?
We investigate! By identifying exactly what it is that’s holding us back, we can create strategies to help us fit the training into our busy schedules. Let’s go over some common barriers and how we can navigate them.
Pull out your calendar as you read through this next section. This can help you make a plan!
There just aren’t enough days in the week!
Life can get pretty demanding. It’s completely understandable that we may not have the time or the energy available to train 5, 4, 3, or even just 2 times a week!
How do we make the most out of the routine when we have limited time?
Workout Splits
A workout split is when you divide up your routine based on the number of days you plan to work out. Using a workout split is a great way to make efficient use of your limited time.
No matter which split you choose, all other training parameters stay the same:
Tempo - How quickly we perform the exercises
Intensity - How close to failure we push the sets (failure meaning you can no longer hold good form)
Rest - Time between sets
Of course, the training still serves the same purpose as it otherwise would: assisting in gaining muscle and strength, as well as losing fat (Check out our blog post Why Have I stopped Losing Weight? for more information on that!).
Remember, it’s all about finding a cadence that works for you!
Splitting the Hybrid Routine
I’ve provided you with potential splits for all of those variants below. Each of these are structured to ensure adequate rest time, so feel free to follow them as they are!
Remember, your split doesn’t have to start on a Monday! You can start your workout “week” on any day. The most important thing sticking to the cadence of your split.
5-Day Workout Split
Monday
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Tuesday
Squats 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Wednesday
Twists 2-3 Sets
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Thursday
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Friday
Squats 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Saturday
Rest
Sunday
Rest
4-Day Workout Split
Monday
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Tuesday
Squats 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Wednesday
Rest
Thursday
Twists 2-3 Sets
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Friday
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Squats 2-3 Sets
Saturday
Rest
Sunday
Rest
3-Day Workout Split
Monday
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Tuesday
Rest
Wednesday
Squats 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Thursday
Rest
Friday
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Squats 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Saturday
Rest
Sunday
Rest
2-Day Workout Split
Monday
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Squats 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Tuesday
Rest
Wednesday
Rest
Thursday
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Squats 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Friday
Rest
Saturday
Rest
Sunday
Rest
Or alternatively, if you can only find time on the weekend:
Saturday
Pushups 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
Sunday
Squats 2-3 Sets
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Due to work, studies, or family responsibilities, it may be challenging to make time for exercise.
There’s not enough time in the day!
Maybe it’s not about how many days, but rather how much time you have (or don’t have) in a day. It can feel daunting to do your training for the day all at once, and time restraints ca prevent you from setting aside time for a workout.
Fear not! It is possible to perform the workout throughout the day instead! This goes both for the original routine and the other weekly splits.
Let’s take Tuesday from the 4-day split as an example:
Tuesday:
Squats 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Pullups 2-3 Sets
With a light warmup and a rest time of about 3 minutes between sets, the training for that day could take up about 45 minutes. Now if that’s too much of a commitment one at a time, we could opt to split it up into 3 smaller portions.
For example:
Squats in the morning
Leg Raises at midday
Pullups in the evening
This may help make it feel more manageable and easier to fit into your schedule.
However, there is one thing to consider! Depending on how much of a warmup you need, you might still need to take a extra time to get properly warmed up and ready to exercise at each point in the day.
If you happen to not need much to feel warm, this method might work very well for you! Otherwise, the extra warming up may cost you some time yet again, so choose whichever you think will suit you best!
Pro Tip: Most of the exercises in the Hybrid Routine can be done almost anywhere!
Now, this methodology could be taken even further but let’s explore that with a different example, using Friday from the 3-day split:
Friday:
Bridges 2-3 Sets
Leg Raises 2-3 Sets
Squats 2-3 Sets
Twists 2-3 Sets
If we’re being generous with our rest and warmup time, a session like this could take up to about an hour, which may yet again be easier to fit into your day by splitting it up into smaller bits! This time, however, we won’t only split it up into the different exercises, but we will also split up the sets and distribute them throughout the day however suits us best.
So, we could perform a set of one of the exercises as a quick break from work or in-between chores etc.
This way, we only really spend the time that we actually need during the sets, as the rest time flows into our other daily activities. This yet again works best if you’re generally feeling ready (and warmed up) to exercise throughout the day but just can’t or don’t want to do it all in a single chunk.
Keep in mind that with the methods of splitting up your training throughout the day, you may be able to perform more reps per set than you usually would. This is due to the extra rest you get between sets and exercises, so just remember that in case you’re comparing your progress to days where you did it all in one session!
The Bottom Line
Whether it seems that there’s not enough time in the day or not enough days in the week, I hope that with the adjustments described, the routine will be even more accessible to all of you! :)
And remember, just like I showed you with the examples, you can very well combine multiple methods too!
