Mini Workouts – Minimum Time, Maximum Benefit!

Being a personal trainer I am aware that many people struggle to find time to get to the gym as much as they would like, or they would like to add something extra around their gym routine but can’t fit it in. Well I would like to give you a bit of advice and tell you how to incorporate mini workouts into your routine. These should not be used to replace your existing workouts; they are there to enhance it.

So mini workouts as the name suggests are short, as they are short, they are intense. So if you are new to exercise you should avoid anything too intense until you have built up your fitness levels. We live in a sometimes ridiculously busy world so mini workouts are great! You can’t put a price on your own health so anything that can enhance your health should be prioritised.

Mini workouts can improve your muscular strength, muscular endurance, motor skills, work you anaerobically and work you aerobically. Depending on the exercises you can help to improve all components of fitness in just 5-10 minutes. Minimum time, MAXIMUM BENEFIT!

We have all heard of the fat burning zone, this means working for 20 minutes or more, aerobically at a moderate intensity. I posted an article a few weeks back related to why I and many other people High Intensity Training is the way forward. When you train aerobically your body will burn calories and utilise fat as fuel while you exercise. When you train at a high intensity your body will burn calories for 2 days more!

Many people train sports specifically obviously this is great with regards to your sport but I think it is important and I try to promote all round fitness. We have all seen the people in the gym who will come in do bench and biceps and never touch the treadmill or leg machines. Clearly this is fine for them as that suits their goals but from a fitness perspective an all round level of fitness encouraging balance and strength in all areas is better.

So I will give you a few basic mini workouts for you to have a bash at. To make it even easier these workouts require no equipment other than a stopwatch, all of the exercises are bodyweight exercises.

Workout 1

Jumping Jacks 30 sec 30 sec Rest

Standard Squats 30 sec 30 sec Rest

Mountain Climbers 30 sec 30 sec Rest

Extended Kneeling /Press Ups 30 sec 30 sec Rest

Repeat Twice.

Workout 2

High Knees 60 Reps

Squats 20 Reps

Extended Kneeling Press Ups 15 Reps

Crunches 20 Reps 45 sec Rest

Repeat 2-3 Times.

Workout 3

Abdominal Plank (30sec) 10 Reps

Russian Twists 20 Reps

Glute Bridge 10 Reps

Dorsal Raises 10 Reps 30 sec Rest

Repeat 3-5 Times.

These 3 workouts are basic ones and take under 10 minutes; you can chop and change similar exercises depending on your level of fitness. Also to make the exercises more challenging you can increase the reps, reduce the recovery, do more sets etc you’re smart people so have a play around. If you are unsure about any exercises just have a search on youtube and you’ll find them in no time.

So I hope this has helped the busy people in being able to fit in a bit more exercise everyday which will bring you closer to achieving your goals as well as giving a few of you some new ideas to add to your exercise program. As a personal trainer in Swansea I have been trying to promote the many benefits of exercise for many years. No matter what exercise you can do it all helps, these mini workouts, although short if done correctly will bring great benefits.

Good luck

Rich