As the manager of the Sports Training Institute (a personal training company based in New York City), Bill DeSimone, 41, has a busy schedule. And with a four-hour daily commute, a wife and two children, he just doesn't have the time for "marathon workouts." When he exercises, he sticks to quick, high-intensity sessions.
Each week, DeSimone aims for the following (meaning that he sometimes does less). He performs one 30-minute interval cardio session, and two strength sessions - one at home, the other at work. He keeps his strength-training workouts under 20 minutes, using a variety of selectorized equipment and free weights.
DeSimone also attempts to attend two classes per week at Tom Bryan's Karate and Grappling, a family-oriented martial arts school that teaches a mix of karate and jujitsu. Since he spends his workday showing people how to move their bodies properly, DeSimone finds it interesting that he learns how to bend joints "the wrong way" while practicing jujitsu's locking techniques in class.
DeSimone may not work out as hard as he did in his younger days, but he gets results. "I've stayed within 10 pounds of my ripped 'body-building' weight, with much less time devoted to it, and I do not appear to be disadvantaged due to conditioning when grappling," he said. "Actually, in light of some injuries I've recently had, I've come to question the amount of exercise and techniques I used when I was younger and dumber. I'm actually thinking that rather than scale down workouts as you age, I never should have done - nor should I have clients do - anything other than brief, basic workouts.
"But that's another story."