15 Minute Muscle Building Workout Plans - Gains in Minutes!

With the New Year approaching many of us will be starting to set new fitness goals for ourselves in 2016. Whether you want to eat better or exercise more, a New Year brings new chance and a new opportunity for us fitness fanatics. But, we don't want to repeat the same mistakes we made in the previous year.

Before we start setting extreme goals for ourselves we need to reflect on the past year and determine what caused us to lose focus and get off track.

Did you not have a set plan?
Were your fitness goals too broad and not specific?
Did you not have enough time?

Related: New Year, New Gym: Change Your Surroundings, Change Your Gains

The last question is one of the most common reasons many of us fail to exercise. Survey after survey that has been taken of why people get off track and stop exercising is because they don't have enough time. The vast majority of us think we need to spend 2 to 3 hours in the gym every day to create the results we want to see.

Do You Need to Live in the Gym?

While long, intense muscle building workout plans may work for some because they have a long period of time to dedicate to the gym, the reality is many of us don't have the luxury of this time dedication. Between work, kids, and school, exercise can tend to drop down to the bottom of our priority list because we believe if we aren't able to exercise for 2-3 hours then it's simply not worth it.

If you want to succeed in 2016 it's time to erase that kind of mindset. You can still make gains and reach your fitness goals by setting aside a small amount of time each day to exercise. Ideally, 30-60 minutes is a good amount of time to set aside and dedicate for your training. But, what about those individuals who are so strapped for time that giving up even 30 minutes of their day is not feasible?

For those who can't commit a full 30 minutes to exercise and need a quick exercise routine to stay on track with their fitness goals, a 15-minute full body routine can help you stay on track.

In order to perform an effective 15-minute routine, you want to use strong, compound movements instead of isolation movements. Time is precious here and in order to get the most out of your short workout you want to have as many muscle groups involved as possible. Using compound movements will engage multiple muscle groups to create an overall effective workout.

With this type of short workout you also better be ready to hit it hard and get intense. With only 15 minutes to spare for a workout, there's no looking at your phone between sets and simply going through the motions. You need to dedicate this 15 minutes of your day to just your workout. Clear your mind, turn your phone off, crank up the music and focus on yourself and the weights. You want this time to be as effective as possible.

And, because time is scarce in this workout fashion you will focus on hitting a push/pull/leg type of workout routine. You want to get your entire upper body and lower body involved as much as possible within these 15 minutes.

Now, set the timer and let's pump out some 15 minutes gains.

15 Minute Full Body Muscle Building Workout Plans

#1 - The Dumbbell Push-Up Body Blast

In this workout, you will perform the 4 exercises below with the set number of reps designated for 15 minutes straight.

• Dumbbell Lunges 12 reps
• Push Up 10 reps
• Bent Over Dumbbell Row 12 reps
• Standing Dumbbell Curl 12 reps

#2 - One Hot Minute

In this workout you will perform each exercise for 40 seconds, approximately in the 5-12 rep range, rest for 20 seconds and then move onto the next exercise. Once all the exercises are complete that is 1 round. Complete for 3 rounds total for a total workout time of 15 minutes.

• Barbell Deadlifts (use a weight you can complete 5-8 reps with)
• Barbell Shoulder Press
• Chin Ups
• Flat Bench Barbell Press
• Pull Ups

#3 - The PPL (Push-Pull-Legs)

In this workout, you will complete 3 superset workouts. One focused on pushing movements, one on pulling movements, and one on leg movements. One round of the PPL will take you approximately 4 ½ to 5 minutes to complete. Repeat for 3 rounds total.

Push Superset

• Incline Bench Press AMRAP in 30 seconds
• Push Ups AMRAP in 30 seconds
• Rest 30 seconds then move onto the Pull Superset

Pull Superset

• Bent Over Barbells Rows AMRAP in 30 seconds
• Barbell Curls AMRAP in 30 seconds
• Rest 30 seconds then move onto the Leg Superset

Leg Superset

• Goblet Squats AMRAP in 30 seconds
• Straight Leg Dumbbell Deadlifts AMRAP in 30 seconds
• Rest 30 seconds and go back to the Push Superset

#4 - The Non Stop

This workout is going to bring the rest periods to an extreme minimum and get you working as hard as possible for 15 minutes straight. This circuit style 15-minute muscle blast is going to put yours through two 7 minute circuits. The only rest will be the one minute in between circuits. Keep the weight light on this as you will be pushing the weight for a large number of reps.

Circuit 1

• Body weight lunges 10 reps
• Dumbbell Bench Press 7 reps
• Inverted Row 5 reps

* Perform this rep range of these exercises back to back for 7 minutes straight. Rest one minute and move onto circuit 2.

Circuit 2

• Goblet squats 8 reps
• Barbell Push Press 8 reps
• Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 8 reps
• Rope Hammer Curl 8 Reps

Make Gains in 15 Minutes

With these 4 intense, muscle building 15-minute workout routines you can be equipped and ready to reach your goals in 2016. Erase the no time excuse from your life and get ready to make the gains you've always wanted in only 15 minutes. These workouts may not look like much on paper, but after you give any of these routines a try you'll realize that you can have an effective workout and build muscle within a short time frame.

Build a better and stronger you this upcoming year and check out the Muscle Minds Youtube channel for more workout tips, nutrition, and fitness advice. Follow me on Instagram @thebrentness and let's make those New Year gains together!