A 10-minute weight loss routine will help you stay in shape, especially if you combine cardio to burn fat and strength movements to tone muscles. The system is simple: you only have to do each movement for 1 minute without resting between them, so that your heart rate stays high. You can repeat this 10 minute weight loss routine once a day, two or three. In short, the ones that you can fit in with your other activities throughout the day.
10 minute routine to lose weight and keep fit
Although longer workouts can be very effective, there is nothing magical about 60 minute, 30 minute, or even 20 minute workouts. The goal of exercise is to challenge and stimulate your body to adapt , and that doesn’t have to take long.
Here are 8 workouts that you can alternate to complete your 10-minute routine daily:
Routine 1
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Jumping jacks
Bodyweight squats
Push-ups
Iron
Reverse lunges: alternate
Superman
Routine 2
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Heels to glute
Side lunge
Triceps curls
Star jumps
Lumbar bridge
Bending-plank
Routine 3
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 45 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Side jumps
Dumbbell row alternating both arms
Dumbbell deadlift
Jump squats and dumbbells
Dumbbell push ups
Frog jumps
Shoulder press with resistance band
Routine 4
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Ice skater
Jump squats
Russian twists or Russian twist
Walking strides
Side twist push-ups
Knee flexion jumps
Bicycle abs
Routine 5
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Knees to chest
Push-ups
Burpees
Abdominal crunch
Sumo squat
Side plank up / down
Routine 6
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
- Jumps from side to side.
- Alternate row with dumbbells in the 2 arms.
- Dumbbell deadlift.
- Dumbbell jump squat.
- Dumbbell push-ups.
- Frog jumps.
- Shoulder press with resistance band.
Note: We have already mentioned these exercises in other routines, so you can go to their corresponding videos to see how they are done.
Routine 7
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Shoulder press resistance band squat
Jumps from side to side
Alternating Arm Band Chest Press
Lunges walking with twist and dumbbell
Jump lunge
Swiss ball crunches
Squat star jumps
Routine 8
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with minimal breaks in between. Rest 60 seconds after each routine and repeat 3 times:
Scaler
Renegade dumbbell row
Bulgarian dumbbell squat
Jump lunge
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Dumbbell cross punches
Advantages of doing a 10 minute routine to lose weight
If you can follow the intensity of the 10-minute weight loss routines, you can enjoy the many benefits they offer :
Flexibility
Doing ten minutes is doable for anyone: you can do it when you wake up, after work, during your lunch break, during your little one’s nap, or right before bed, just to name a few options. With so little time, you won’t even have to program it .
Adaptability
You can dedicate the 10-minute weight loss routine to working a single muscle group or body part (abs, glutes, shoulders, chest, arms, etc.), doing a full-body strength session, or increasing your weight burn. calories and build endurance with vigorous cardiovascular exercise.
Comfort
Are you starting or getting back in shape? 10 minutes of exercise a day is not as much as a 60 or even 30 minute workout. In fact, it’s a great way to get a “win” and feel a sense of accomplishment with minimal interruption to the rest of the day.
Efficiency
When you know you’ll be in the gym for 60 minutes, you’re more likely to take a casual approach to exercising, socialize more with peers, and take rest periods that are too long. When you’re limited to 10 minutes, you need to get down to business right away and stay focused the entire time .
Constancy
Once you realize how easy it is to fit a 10-minute workout into your day and start to see the benefits of doing it regularly, you’ll start thinking about those 10 minutes of daily self-improvement. The “high” that the endorphins released during exercise make you feel will help you remain consistent . And that’s the key: Consistency is the single most important factor in achieving any fitness goal.
The secret behind a 10 minute weight loss routine
When we talk about exercising, doing a little is always much better than doing nothing . In a study of previously sedentary women, 10 to 15 minutes of daily aerobic exercise improved blood pressure (an important indicator of cardiovascular health). In other research, brainpower and cognition improved directly after exercise sessions of just 10 minutes.
The bottom line is that in addition to helping you build strength, improve cardiovascular fitness, and burn fat, workouts of as little as 10 minutes can help you improve your most important health factors , whenever you put in the effort. As workouts get shorter, you have to work harder and harder to optimize your results.
In virtually all of the studies demonstrating the effectiveness of short workouts , subjects worked hard, often as intensely as they could physically, during at least parts of their workouts. So if you want to cut your training time to 600 seconds, you have to put in a lot of effort.
Bibliography
- Gersh, B. (2008). Effects of Different Doses of Physical Activity on Cardiorespiratory Fitness Among Sedentary, Overweight or Obese Postmenopausal Women With Elevated Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Yearbook of Cardiology , 2008 , 298–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-4145(08)04005-7.
- Samani, A., & Heath, M. (2018). Executive-related oculomotor control is improved following a 10-min single-bout of aerobic exercise: Evidence from the antisaccade task. Neuropsychologia , 108 , 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.11.029.