I'm a Performance Coach. This is the Perfect Full-Body Workout for Busy Guys
One of the most common excuses people give for skipping workouts is a lack of time. But as performance coach John Shackleton, MS, CSCS, founder of Shack Fit, told Men's Journal, effective training doesn’t require long sessions or complicated workouts. In fact, when time is limited, the goal shouldn't necessarily be to do more exercises. Rather, workouts should prioritize the most important movement patterns.
By focusing on major compound movements in a single session—think, your lower-body squats paired with upper-body pullups—you challenge nearly every major muscle group at once, creating a strong physiological response in a short window. For busy professionals and dads alike, this keeps training effective, repeatable, and sustainable while respecting limited time.
Below, Shackleton shares the exact 20-minute workout he does when he's strapped for time. Run through this circuit two to three times per week. If you’re already lifting on other days, it works well as a supplemental workout. If this is your primary form of training, aim for three sessions weekly.
20-Minute Workout for Busy Men
Warmup
Spend a total of 5 minutes warming up. For the first half, get your heart rate up with a jog, jump rope, bike, run, row, or climb. Spend the last 2.5 minutes doing dynamic mobility moves to open the hips, spine, and ankles.
15-Minute Circuit
Set a timer for 15 minutes and perform as many rounds as possible of the following movement patterns:
Cardio Movement
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Spend the first 30 seconds on a cardio-focused movement, like jumping rope, biking, running, climbing, or rowing.
Squat Variation
Perform 8 to 10 reps of a squat variation, like a goblet squat, landmine squat, or cyclist squat.
Pullup Variation
Perform as many reps as you can, leaving about 1 or 2 reps in reserve. Variations include supinated, neutral, pronated, or band-assisted pullups.
Lunge Variation
Perform 8 to 10 reps on each leg of a reverse lunge, step back lunge, walking lunge, or split squat.
Pushups
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Perform as many reps as you can, leaving 1 to 2 reps in reserve. You can perform standard, feet elevated, or tempo pushups. Shackleton says you can even sub these out for dips.
Hinge Pattern
Perform 6 to 8 reps of back extensions, RDLs, or single-leg RDLs.
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Why It Works
"This structure works because it treats the body as a functional unit rather than a collection of parts. You are training locomotion, squatting, hip hinging, pushing, pulling, and single-leg work in one session," Shackleton says. "Those patterns collectively address strength, coordination, and conditioning without redundancy."
Instead of isolating muscles, this "functional unit" approach trains the body to produce and manage force efficiently across joints and positions, which is what delivers the biggest return over time.
Plus, it builds full-body strength through repeated exposure to foundational movement patterns, improves work capacity by keeping rest periods short, and reinforces movement quality by prioritizing repeatable reps.
How to Progress
When movements feel controlled and repeatable, that is the signal to increase the challenge, Shackleton says. The easiest ways to progress these exercises over time is to increase your weight, change where the weight is placed, or choose more demanding variations of the same movement pattern.
"For example, a goblet squat can progress to a double front rack kettlebell squat. Pushups and pullups can be progressed by adding a weighted vest," Shackleton says. "Even small changes in how the weight is carried around the body can significantly increase the challenge."
If you find yourself maxed out on weight, you can also change the plane of motion and focus on cleaner reps.