Available on iOS and Android
Quick Gym
Only have 15 minutes at the gym?
Short answer
Train one or two big movements, pair them, and keep your rests short. Handler's Quick Gym gives you a 7, 10 or 15-minute workout: choose Large Gym, Small Gym, Home Gym, Hotel or Bodyweight, and it fills the time from a fixed exercise list for that setting. Already mid-workout? Ask Coach to fit the rest into the time you have left.
Updated
Step by step
How it works in Handler
- 01
Open Quick Gym
On Home, open the card labeled FAST WORKOUT when there's no time for your planned session.
- 02
Pick 7, 10 or 15 minutes
Tap the duration, choose one of the three presets, then tap Save. The preset affects working-set counts, capped by each exercise's programming for your goal.
- 03
Pick your equipment
Tap the gym location, choose Large Gym, Small Gym, Home Gym, Hotel or Bodyweight, then tap Save. Small Gym and Hotel use the Large Gym exercise list; Home Gym and Bodyweight each have their own. Reps and rest come from Handler's exercise library for your goal.
- 04
Swap anything you don't want
Replace an exercise before you start if it doesn't suit you today.
- 05
Tap Start Workout
It opens in the normal workout tracker. Log your sets as usual, with weights you choose.
Step by step in the help center: starting a Quick Gym workout
Start a 15-minute Quick Gym in Handler. New on iPhone? 7 days free, then $79.99/year in the US. No free version. Get Handler
Handler's Quick Gym template
What can you do in 15 minutes at the gym?
This is the workout Handler's Quick Gym builds for 15 minutes at a Large Gym, Small Gym or Hotel, taken from the app's template. With its rest timers, the 15-minute workout runs about 20 minutes at the default goal. Shorten the rests to finish nearer 15. Quick Gym gives each exercise a block of time, and the five blocks add up to exactly 15 minutes; the rest timers sit outside them. The block decides how many sets you get, up to the cap for your goal; reps, holds and rest come from your goal too.
Handler's Quick Gym template (15 min, Large Gym)
| Exercise | Time block | General Fitness | Other goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goblet Squat | 3 min 45 s | 2 sets × 10–15 reps, 45 s rest | 3 sets |
| Incline Push-Up | 3 min 15 s | 2 sets × 10–15 reps, 45 s rest | 3 sets |
| Walking Lunge | 3 min | 3 sets × 8–12 reps, 60 s rest | 3 sets; 4 on Get Stronger |
| Lateral Raise | 2 min 40 s | 3 sets × 12–15 reps, 60 s rest | 3 sets; 4 on Build Muscle |
| High Plank | 2 min 20 s | 3 holds × 20–40 seconds, 45 s rest | 3 holds; 4 on Get Stronger |
General Fitness is the default goal; Build Muscle, Get Stronger and Lose Fat change the reps and rest as well as the set cap. Our tip, not app output: this template has no pulling exercise. If you have a few minutes spare, finish with 2 sets of dumbbell or cable rows.
Handler's Quick Gym template
And with 10 minutes?
Pick 10 minutes at a Large Gym and you get the same five exercises with shorter time blocks, adding up to exactly 10 minutes. At General Fitness the sets, reps and rest match the 15-minute version, so with its rest timers it runs about as long; other goals top out at 3 sets per exercise.
Handler's Quick Gym template (10 min, Large Gym)
| Exercise | Time block | General Fitness |
|---|---|---|
| Goblet Squat | 2 min 15 s | 2 sets × 10–15 reps, 45 s rest |
| Incline Push-Up | 2 min | 2 sets × 10–15 reps, 45 s rest |
| Walking Lunge | 2 min 15 s | 3 sets × 8–12 reps, 60 s rest |
| Lateral Raise | 2 min | 3 sets × 12–15 reps, 60 s rest |
| High Plank | 1 min 30 s | 3 holds × 20–40 seconds, 45 s rest |
Handler's Quick Gym template
15 minutes with no equipment
With Bodyweight selected, the 15-minute template uses squat jumps, push-ups, walking lunges, high planks and marching in place, with time blocks of the same lengths. March in Place is filed as a warm-up movement, so it gets one set for every goal. Home Gym has its own list again: bodyweight squats, incline push-ups, reverse lunges, superman rows and a hollow body hold.
Handler's Quick Gym template (15 min, Bodyweight)
| Exercise | Time block | General Fitness | Other goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat Jump | 3 min 45 s | 3 sets × 5–8 reps, 75 s rest | 3 sets; 4 on Get Stronger |
| Push-Up | 3 min 15 s | 3 sets × 8–12 reps, 60 s rest | 3 sets; 4 on Get Stronger |
| Walking Lunge | 3 min | 3 sets × 8–12 reps, 60 s rest | 3 sets; 4 on Get Stronger |
| High Plank | 2 min 40 s | 3 holds × 20–40 seconds, 45 s rest | 3 holds; 4 on Get Stronger |
| March in Place | 2 min 20 s | 1 × 30–45 seconds, no rest | 1 set |
Mid-workout
Running out of time halfway through?
Quick Gym is for starting short. If you're already in a full workout and time gets tight, tell Coach how long you've got.
Ask Coach
Type something like “I've only got 15 minutes left.” Coach can fit the rest of today's workout into anywhere from 5 to 90 minutes.
What it keeps
Coach keeps your completed working sets and trims the work still to come. It tells you what it kept and what it dropped.
How it estimates
It counts about 40 seconds per set plus each exercise's rest time. That's an estimate: a long setup or a queue for the cable adds time it can't see.
Limits
What Quick Gym won't do
- There are three lengths: 7, 10 and 15 minutes. You can't type in your own.
- The time is a plan, not a finish time. Rest timers aren't counted in it, and slow setup or a busy floor add more.
- Effort Check doesn't run in Quick Gym workouts.
- It doesn't pick your starting weights. Use a load you can control for the target reps.
- Exercises come from a fixed list for each equipment setting. It isn't a brand-new workout written from scratch each time.
- When Coach trims a workout, it can drop a whole exercise, including warm-up sets you logged for it.
Other ways to do this
Other ways to train short
You don't need an app for a useful short session. Three ways to do it without an app:
Pair two lifts
Superset a push and a pull, or a squat and a row: one set of each, then rest. Ten minutes of goblet squats and dumbbell rows covers your legs and your back.
One main lift
Warm up, then do three or four hard sets of one big lift, like a squat or a press. Short, simple and easy to progress next time.
Every minute on the minute
Start a set of 6 to 8 reps at the top of each minute and rest for whatever's left. The clock keeps you moving.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 10 or 15-minute gym workout worth it?
Can Handler build a 10-minute gym workout?
What if I only have 20 or 30 minutes?
What if I only have 15 minutes left in my workout?
Does Quick Gym change my weights after each set?
Available on iOS and Android
Fifteen minutes is still a workout.
Quick Gym sits on Home, next to your four-week plan. New on iPhone? 7 days free, then $79.99/year in the US. No free version.