Lack of time is the most common barrier to adapting to exercise. We are conditioned to think that we have to train for 45 or 60 minutes to get results. In reality, very few people have more than an hour to exercise. Those who do often stick to the same steady-state cardio workout and still don’t see results. Done right, a 10-minute workout can be even more effective than long, slow (and often downright boring) cardio sessions. A 10-minute workout is more manageable to fit into your day, and a 10-minute sweat session can be a lot more fun!

The key to making a 10-minute cardio session extremely effective is to increase the intensity. If you can talk, you’re probably not working hard enough. Short bursts of high-intensity exercise will boost your metabolism and tone your muscles more effectively than constant exercise at a lower heart rate. If you’re new to exercise, it’s a good idea to start slowly (at a pace you can carry on a conversation with) and build up over two to three months. However, if you’ve been exercising for a while and have no contraindications to high-intensity training, it may be time to pick up the pace and reduce the time you spend on the treadmill.

I’ve put together three simple and effective 10-minute workouts that you can try. If you haven’t warmed up yet, take an extra 2-5 minutes to relax into your workout. End each workout by warming up for a few minutes.

1. 1 minute explosions. Do this exercise on a cardio machine or outdoors on foot or by bike.

1 minute: moderate effort

1 minute: pick up the pace. He should be breathing heavily and definitely NOT able to speak.
Repeat for a total of 5 times. Try to increase the intensity of hard intervals throughout the entire workout (for example, run faster or increase RPM on the bike).

2. Ascents of 30 seconds. Do this exercise on a cardio machine or outdoors on foot or by bike.

30 seconds: easy to moderate
30 seconds: Hard
30 seconds: very difficult
30 seconds: Very very hard (You can do it!)
Repeat for a total of 5 times.

3. Full body burn

Warm up: 25-50 jumping jacks
30 seconds Knee high running or walking
30 seconds Squats or jump squats
30 seconds Knee high running or walking
30 seconds Forward lunges or jumping lunges
30 seconds Knee high running or walking
30-second push-ups (knees, toes, or on the wall)
30 seconds Knee high running or walking
30-second Bicycle Crunches (for abs)
30 seconds Knee high running or walking
30 seconds burpees (or squats)
Repeat for a total of 2 rounds.

If you have 10 minutes, you have time to fit in your cardio training. If you don’t have 10 minutes, find the time. You are worth it and so are the results!