How to Do a 10-Minute Workout
Learn how to exercise effectively in 10 minutes or less, and get 3 quick new workout routines.
Ben Greenfield
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How to Do a 10-Minute Workout
One of the top excuses for not exercising is: “I don’t have enough time.” Sadly, we’ve been led to believe that in order to be physically active, get the body we want or whip our heart and lungs into shape, we need to dedicate 45-90 minutes to the gym. But some of the busiest and fittest people I know rarely step foot in a gym or exercise for longer than an hour. So in this article, you’ll learn how to exercise effectively in 10 minutes or less, and get 3 quick new workout routines.
Why Short Exercise Sessions Work
In the episode How to Do High Intensity Interval Training, you learned that short, intense bursts of cardiovascular exercise can boost the metabolism and ultimately burn far more calories than long, slow cardio sessions. In the same way, quick 10-minute workouts spread throughout your day can elevate your heart rate, get you breathing hard, and stimulate a toning effect on the muscles without requiring you to slave away at the gym for long periods of time.
How to Do Short Workouts
The key to exercising for a short period of time is that you must exercise consistently and with high intensity to get significant results. For example, if I want to tone the back of my arms (the triceps), I could do a long workout at the beginning of the week that involves 3-5 sets of several different exercises for the triceps. Such a workout might take 20-25 minutes, but would only address one part of my body. So I’d need to be at the gym much longer than those 20-25 minutes to work my entire body.
But if I perform a single exhausting set of narrow grip push-ups, which is a very effective exercise for targeting the triceps, I can easily squeeze that set into a 2-minute window. So instead of one long, time-consuming triceps workout at the beginning of the week, I’ll simply do that single set of push-ups every day. However, to get good results, I need to consistently perform that set, and push myself to exhaustion.
10-Minute Workouts
For squeezing in a quick exercise session, most people can find a window of time that is longer than 2 minutes, and I’ve found 10 minutes to be something that even very busy individuals can achieve. For each of these 10-minute workouts, don’t worry about a long warm-up or cool-down – everything is wrapped into the 10-minute session. And if you find extra time, you’ll get the added benefit from repeating the 10-minute workout 2 to 3 additional times during the day.
10-Minute Workout #1: Full Body Burn
Equipment: 1 pair of dumbbells and a chair, step, stairs, or box.
Instructions: Warm-up with 25-50 jumping jacks, then complete 10-12 repetitions of each set of exercises twice, back-to-back with minimal rest, and move on to next set.
Set 1: Dumbbell Squat With Overhead Press to Bent Side Raises
Set 2: Dumbbell Push-Up Row to Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Set 3: High Knee Step-Ups to Reverse Lunges
10 Minute Workout #2: Butt, Abs, Thighs
Equipment: none
Instructions: Complete this routine as a circuit, one time through, with minimal rest between exercises. No warm-up required.
25 Body Weight Squats
10 Lunge Jumps per side
10 Side Plank Rotations
10 Front Plank Taps
10 Lateral Lunges per side
10 Squat Jumps
25 Kickouts per Side
Finish with 60 second Squat Hold
10 Minute Workout #3: Maximum Calorie Burn
Equipment: none
Instructions: Complete this routine as a circuit, 3 times through, with minimal rest between exercises. No warm-up required.
25-50 Jumping Jacks
5 Push-Ups
10 Squat-Thrust-Jumps
5 Push-Ups
10 Vertical Jumps
5 Push-Ups
If you have more questions about quick workouts, or have your own 10-minute workout routines, share them below in Comments and on the Get-Fit Guy Facebook page!
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Exercise image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.