Join Women's Health's New 20-Minute Muscle Workout Program
If you want major gains in minimal time, Women's Health and Men's Health have you covered with our new 20-Minute Muscle program, free for Women's Health+ Premium members. Certified personal trainers Nellie Barnett, CPT and Mathew Forzaglia, CPT, co-created this plan to prove you can achieve a solid sweat—and serious strength—in less time than you think.
Let the record show, strength training is the key to feeling (and looking) so much stronger. When you strength train, you use either your own bodyweight or tools like dumbbells to build muscle mass, strength, and endurance. Picking up heavy weights is the secret sauce to the physical and mental transformation you've been dreaming about.
But it must take hours of time in the gym working out to see those gains, right? In reality, you can achieve a stronger, fitter you from the comfort of your own home simply by staying committed to a plan. "At the end of the day, consistency is key," Barnett says. "Whether it's 20 minutes or an hour, what's most important is moving your body regularly."
Try 20-Minute Muscle's Arms and Abs Workout Now
20-Minute Muscle includes four quick dumbbell workouts that target every muscle group in your body.
Arms and Abs
Lower-Body AMRAP
Arms and Abs
Upper-Body Dumbbell
Full-Body Dumbbell
Full-Body Dumbbell
Lower-Body AMRAP
Upper-Body Dumbbell
To get started, all you need to do is sign up for your WH+ Premium membership, which includes access to All/Out Studio, where the program lives.
This premium membership tier will also get you:
Access to 450+ Women's Health streaming workouts on the All/Out Studio app, including all of the 20-Minute Muscle workouts ($89.99 value)
Exclusive fitness challenge content, like the 2024 Strength Transformation Challenge with Katie and Denise Austin
A members-only newsletter with Women's Health+ inspo for your whole week
Unlimited site content and access to exclusive articles
A 1-year print magazine subscription and instant access to the digital version
A copy of The Women’s Health Guide to Strength Training ($20.99 value)
Read on for more reasons you should give 20-Minute Muscle a try:
All you need is a set of dumbbells.
Don't worry if you only have a light set at home. This program is about progressing over the course of a few weeks—not starting day one with the biggest dumbbells in the gym. "As long as you are progressively increasing the weight and challenging your endurance, you're going to get stronger," Barnett says.
In fact, if you're just starting out, it's better to begin with lighter weights and gradually increase as you get stronger. "It's all about finding the sweet spot between challenge and control," Barnett says. "You should be able to complete each exercise and rep with proper form. By the last few reps, it should be difficult."
You'll target every muscle group in a short amount of time.
All four of the workouts in 20-Minute Muscle are programmed circuit-style, which means that a block of movements is performed with minimal rest in between. This type of training gets real spicy, real fast—which is the point, Barnett says.
Get Access To 20-Minute Muscle Now
"With 20 minutes on the clock, we are working to fatigue our muscles as much as possible in a short amount of time," she explains. "A circuit-style workout ensures that you're constantly putting in work to make the best use of your time."
Just aim to do as many reps as you can with control for the entire allotted time. With a few weeks of consistency, you should be able to crank out a few more reps using a heavier set of dumbbells. You'll see progress in real time!
It's a workout for your mind, too.
Since we're working with 20 short minutes here, think of it as time to invest in yourself and completely focus on working towards a stronger you. That means keeping your head in the game through every movement.
"Mind-muscle connection is crucial," Barnett advises." You can go through the motions, but are you actively engaging the muscles?" Think intently about squeezing and elongating your muscles as you progress through a movement. "Being intentional with your focus on mind-muscle connection will optimize your gains," she says.
With just 20 minutes and a bit of consistency and focus, the gains will be all yours.
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