Posted on January 16, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

To change your body ideally you need to complete 45 minutes to an hour 5-6 days a week of intense physical training, but like most people maybe you don’t always have a block of 60 minutes to train… this is not a justifiable excuse. When times are tough and you cant get to the gym for whatever reason ( watching your favourite TV show doesn’t count by the way!) you can use short 10 minutes workouts to achieve similar results.

I promise you that doing a 10 minute workout despite it sounding so miniscule is one hundred times better than not training at all, if you can’t fit in a 10 minute workout during your day your either the president of the USA or you’re tied to a tree, everyone can fit in 10 minutes. NO EXCUSES!!!

In fact research is in agreement that short intense bursts of exercise can be more beneficial in some circumstances particularly if your goals are health related and the last time you did some exercise was when the TVs were in black and white, now don’t take this point and think all I have to do is 10 minutes a day because for the other 90% of you it’s just an approach to assist you when you cant do your program. The program you’re prescribed particularly if it’s from a Motive8 North Personal Trainer will always be optimal.

Try one of our following 10 minute workouts!

 

Workout 1- for weight loss and fitness development

• Sprint 30s, walk 30s (repeat this 10x), this simple sprint protocol reeks havoc on your body, if you give it 100% every sprint you’ll kick your metabolism into overdrive. This protocol could be used anywhere including inside the house, if you have some stairs sprint them and walk back down. You could use a spin bike, a rowing machine the possibilities are endless.

Workout 2- for fat loss and central conditioning

The Living room Pyramid,

• 10 squats
• 10 push ups
• 10 burpees

This workout looks easy on paper but do that for 4 minutes as fast as you can, rest 1 minute then try and beat or match your first 4 minutes. This metabolic conditioning workout will have you burning calories like a machine for the 10 minutes your training and elevate your metabolism for up to 50 minutes after!

 

Workout 3- for hitting a muscle group on a mass building program

• The Muscle group workout

If you’re working towards a hypertrophy goal you need to be hitting the muscle you want to increase in size 2-3 times per week, however if something crops up and you cant train that muscle group that is out of your control squeeze in the following protocol.

• Pick the bodyweight exercise that is closest your daily goal, Press ups for push days, squats/ lunges for leg days and pull ups for back movements
• Complete as many reps as possible in 1 minute of one exercise then swap to another and complete as many reps of that exercise. Rest 30s then repeat the process. For example:

Chest

• 1 minute of press ups
• 1 minute of narrow grip incline press ups
• Rest 30s repeat 4x

Legs

• 1 minute body weight squats
• 1 minute jumping lunges
• Rest 30s repeat 4x

Back

• Wide grip pronated pull ups max in 1 minute
• Supinated narrow grip pull ups 1 minute
• Rest 30s repeat 4x

 

Workout 4- for improving markers of health (blood pressure, resting heart rate etc

Use a tabata protocol, this can be done anywhere on anything from running to cycling

• Work as hard as possible for 20s (100% effort!)
• Rest for 10s
• Repeat 8x
• Rest 1 minute then start again for 1 more sets

Workout 5- For those that haven’t trained in a long time

• Walk- simply going and spending 10 minutes walking at a brisk pace will do wonders for your health if your not in a great condition presently, and its better than sitting on your back side

In conclusion guys there really is no excuse not to exercise, sure times will crop up where you don’t have time, but been able to squeeze bits in where you can will not only keep you on track but it will keep you laser focused, improve your mood, release some stress and keep you walking in the right direction. Keep up the great work!!

Chris