Efficient Workout Success With 4 Essential Strength Rules

Peloton’s Rebecca Kennedy tells PopSugar Australia how an efficient workout builds strength in as little as 20 minutes a session

Image credit: PopSugar Australia

An efficient workout does not require hours in the gym, according to Peloton instructor Rebecca Kennedy. In a new PopSugar Australia Instagram feature, The Lost Art of the ‘Efficient’ Workout, Kennedy lays out a simple strength training framework built around focus instead of time.

Images and interview quotes courtesy of PopSugar Australia.

Kennedy told PopSugar that how you spend your time matters more than how much of it you spend working out. “You don’t need to spend hours in the gym to see results,” she said.

Image credit: PopSugar Australia

Her advice offers a clear plan for Peloton members balancing Strength, Pilates, Tread, walking, and Yoga classes across a busy week.

The Efficient Workout Starts With 2 to 3 Sessions a Week

Kennedy says two to three focused strength sessions per week can make a meaningful difference in your fitness. Each session can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as 45 minutes.

The key word is focused. An efficient workout is built on intention, with every set serving a purpose. That approach runs through Kennedy’s structured Peloton programming, from Rebecca Kennedy HiLit+ to her split replay strength classes.

Image credit: PopSugar Australia

A Simple Formula of Exercises and Sets

Her formula keeps planning simple. Choose two to three main exercises per workout, then perform two to four working sets of each.

That structure makes an efficient workout easy to repeat from week to week. Less time goes to deciding what comes next, and more time goes to the work itself.

Choosing the Right Resistance for Strength Training

Kennedy is just as specific about load. She recommends a resistance that makes roughly eight to 12 reps feel challenging while holding good form.

By the end of most working sets, she says, you should feel like you could complete only one or two more quality reps. That effort cue keeps an efficient workout from drifting into an easy one.

Image credit: PopSugar Australia

Compound Movements Do the Heavy Lifting

Kennedy also suggests prioritizing compound movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and presses. She told PopSugar these exercises offer a “bigger bang for your buck” because they train several muscle groups and fundamental movement patterns at once.

For anyone short on time, that is the appeal. An efficient workout built around compound lifts covers more of the body in fewer exercises, which is exactly what her two-to-three-exercise formula depends on.

Image credit: PopSugar Australia

Muscle as the Fountain of Youth

Kennedy connects the approach to longevity. She told PopSugar that building and preserving muscle with age is incredibly valuable, and she calls muscle our “fountain of youth.” In her view, it supports strength, bone health, metabolic health, injury prevention, and the ability to stay active and independent.

Image credit: PopSugar Australia

Kennedy is not the only Peloton instructor making the case. Robin Arzón has also called strength training the fountain of youth, and her advice that the last rep or two of a set should feel genuinely hard mirrors Kennedy’s effort cue. Andy Speer recently spoke about aging well at the Marketing to Men Summit, and Mila Lazar marked turning 50 with an honest look at strength training and moving well for life. Together, they reflect the Peloton healthspan strategy that is shaping the platform.

It is a theme she returns to often, from her conversation with Forbes about getting stronger, not smaller to her guidance on low-impact strength training. The efficient workout is the practical side of that message.

Putting the Efficient Workout Into Practice on Peloton

For Peloton members, Kennedy’s guidance translates cleanly to the class library. Two to three Strength classes in the 20 to 45 minute range each week, built on compound lifts and challenging weights, can anchor an efficient workout routine. The rest of the week stays open for Pilates, Tread runs, walks, Yoga, or recovery.

Her framework sets a standard that fits real schedules: show up a few times a week, choose fewer exercises, lift with intent, and let consistency carry the results. An efficient workout is not a shortcut. It is a smarter use of the time you already have.

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