If you have a busy schedule, you probably don’t have much extra time for exercise.
In fact, when you’re juggling work, household chores, and caring for the kids, following a fitness routine can seem downright impossible.
Fortunately, you can get in shape with small doses of exercise.
Here, learn about five ways to get fit in 10 minutes or under.
It doesn’t take much running to stay in shape.
In 2014, researchers for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that running was associated with a decreased risk of death from heart disease and all causes.(1)
Study participants who ran for as little as under 51 minutes per week had a lower risk of death than did non-runners.
This is the equivalent of just seven minutes of running each day of the week, or about 10 minutes of running five days per week.
Even the busiest of schedules have room for a 10-minute run.
Jumping rope isn’t just for kids on the playground; it can help you to burn off extra calories in a short period of time.
According to My Fitness Pal, a 140-pound person burns 106 calories with 10 minutes of jump-roping at a moderate intensity.(2)
Step outside for a few minutes to enjoy the fresh air while you jump rope, or perform this exercise in the comfort of your own basement on cold, rainy days.
If you only have a few minutes to exercise, you want to make the most of them, so it’s important to burn as many calories as you can in the short amount of time that you have.
You can do this by following the advice of the authors of a study in a 2015 edition of the Journal of Fitness Research.(3)
These authors found that study participants who completed four minutes of weighted squats burned the most calories when they used a light 5 kilogram weight and performed fast repetitions.
Calorie burn was 29 percent higher with this weight and speed compared to using a 20 kilogram weight and performing slower repetitions.
The authors concluded that fast repetitions with lighter weights are the best choice for maximizing calorie burn.
According to data provided by Step Jockey, you can burn about 25 calories by walking up and down a 12-step staircase 10 times.(4)
Complete 40 trips up and down the stairs, and you will have incinerated 100 calories in virtually no time.
This workout can be completed in about 10 minutes, and if you have a second story or a basement, you won’t even have to leave home.
Squeeze in a bout of stair-climbing while dinner is heating up in the oven, or set the alarm for a few minutes earlier than usual to start your day off with this calorie-blaster.
You might be surprised to learn that just 10 minutes spent on your treadmill or exercise bike can improve your overall fitness.
In a 2007 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, one group of previously-sedentary women exercised for the equivalent of 72 minutes per week, equal to approximately 10 minutes per day, on a stationary bike or treadmill.(5)
After six months, they experienced significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness compared to a control group.
Their waist sizes were also significantly smaller when compared to women in the control group.
Surely you can hop on your own treadmill or exercise bike for just 10 minutes a day so you can experience these same benefits.
With the research showing that the equivalent of only 10 minutes per day on an exercise machine can improve your fitness, it is clear that you don’t have to devote hours to the gym to stay in shape.
Try the other simple calorie-blasting exercises discussed here, such as jumping rope and climbing the stairs, and you can easily make room for fitness in your busy schedule.
Researches and references
(1)http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleID=1891600
(2)http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/calories-burned/jump-rope-34486530
(3)http://fitnessresearch.edu.au/journal-view/the-effects-of-varying-load-and-repetition-speed-109
(4)https://www.stepjockey.com/stair-climbing-benefits
(5)http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1108370
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