Wouldn’t it be grand to have time for regular 90-minute gym sessions? Back in the real world, it’s likely your exercise routine gets interrupted by meetings, family commitments, the odd hangover or two. But just because you lack several hours each week to devote to honing a six-pack doesn’t mean you can’t get fit in small windows of time. We asked four top coaches for an efficient workout that you can fit into your busy schedule. Forget to warm up at your peril…

When short on time, Mr Carl Martin, personal trainer manager at Equinox UK, likes to use escalating density training (EDT), which involves pushing yourself to your maximum effort in blocks of 15 minutes. For a solid starter, Mr Martin recommends a simple lifting routine of barbell back squats (resting a loaded barbell on the back of your shoulders) followed by dumbbell incline chest presses (lying on an inclined bench with a DB in each hand). “Perform five reps of each exercise with a load normally used for your 10-rep max,” he advises. “Alternate between the two exercises and when fatigue kicks in, reduce the reps to allow the workout to continue for the whole 15 minutes. Record your reps and try to beat it next time.”

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For a brief, but productive lunchtime run, Mr Anthony Fletcher, head coach at Equinox UK’s Precision Running, likes descending ladders, a series of decreasing running and resting periods. “They are a great way to place the body under stress in the early stages of the session and reduce the risk of injury,” says Mr Fletcher. “Warm up with four minutes of butt kicks, side steps, reverse lunge and four minutes of easy jogging. The ladders should consist of: four minutes at race pace with two minutes’ recovery; three minutes at race pace with 1.5 minutes’ recovery; two minutes at race pace with one minute’s recovery; one minute at race pace with 30 seconds’ recovery; 30 seconds at 90 per cent effort with 15 seconds’ recovery. Perform six to 10 times. If you don’t know your race pace, aim for a perceived effort of nine out of 10.”

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Whether you train on a spin bike, Wattbike or turbo, international triathlon coach Mr Duncan Grainge of SISU Racing recommends lactate threshold training for dramatic results in a one-hour window. “The goal is to improve your lactate threshold – that’s the amount of power you can produce while keeping your lactate levels under control and stopping that lactic acid from plugging your muscles,” says Mr Grainge. “It will help you ride faster, harder and longer.” A quick and simple way to measure your personal lactate threshold is by using rate of perceived exertion (RPE), where one is rest, and 10 is you pedalling so hard you might be sick. Mr Grainge’s LT workout is straightforward: warm up with 10 minutes of easy spinning at RPE 2, followed by three 10 minutes’ cycling at RPE 8, with five minutes recovery at RPE 3 in between.

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Avoid junk lengths in the pool by applying Mr Grainge’s time trials format to your next swim. “Warm up with 200m easy swim at RPE 3,” he advises. “Then do 450m of drills [try catch ups and closed fists] followed by 100m at RPE 5. For the time trial, do 10 sets of 100 metres at RPE 8 with 10 seconds rest in between each one, maintaining the same time for each set. Cool down with 100m easy, any stroke of your choice, as long as it’s not the one you did in the time trial.”

Plyometrics are quick, powerful movements that alternate eccentric actions (muscle-lengthening) and concentric actions (muscle-shortening). “It improves your speed, power, physical agility and reaction time,” says Mr Taofique Folarin, trainer at London’s Sweat It. Easy to perform in a living room, gym or park, Mr Folarin advises a thorough 10-minute warm up first, focusing on muscle contraction. For the workout, Mr Folarin recommends five reps of each plyo (those being: hops, push-ups, burpees, tuck jumps and squat jumps), with 15 seconds rest in between each rep. A five-minute warm down of side lunges, glute and quad stretches and downward dog should help ease your Doms.

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