10 Minute Workout Keys

Do you believe you can get a quality workout done in only 10 minutes? Here are the big factors in how I make my 10-minute workouts work so well at helping busy moms and dads lose weight quickly and easily.

By: Ed Scow, NSCA-CPT: Certified Fitness & Nutrition Expert to the True Superheroes - Busy Moms & Dads and author of Fat Loss To Go

One of the biggest obstacles I have to get around with parents who are interested in weight loss and how to lose stomach fat is the question revolving around my 10 minute workouts.

They want to know if 10 minutes is long enough.

They want to know if they can really lose their excess stomach baggage while only working out for 10 minutes (I emphasis 'only' because if the workout is designed properly and you work hard enough, 10 minutes can feel like an eternity).

I get that. I actually understand it quite well; because I was one of those people who for so many years thought you had to train for at least 45 minutes in order to get any sort of fat loss effect.

Working out for 10 minutes was just…too unbelievable.

But something happened to me over the years…

…I studied.  I learned the way the body works and how it burns fat, plus I became one of those people who has more important things to worry about than trying to carve out chunks of time every day to workout.

I am a dad, a business owner, and a husband and I just didn’t want to have to constantly stress out about missing a workout - whether I was trying to lose weight or gain muscle.

Now when people ask me if 10 minute workouts are long enough, I always ask them a question.

My question is "Why do you think you have to workout longer than 10 minutes?"

Seriously, does something magical happen after you’ve been working out for 20 or 30 minutes? Does some fat burning switch get flipped?

A common response is "10 minute workouts just don’t burn enough calories to lose weight - it's not long enough."

OK, that’s fine.

That’s wrong, and I’ll tell you why.

First, you’re focusing on the wrong numbers. The amount of calories you burn while working out shouldn’t matter. That’s too small a period of time, no matter if it’s 10 minutes, 20, or 50 minutes.

The numbers you should wonder about are the amount of calories you can burn while NOT exercising. Your body should be burning a lot of calories while not exercising, because you workout caused such a "metabolic stir" that it needs to work hard to get back to normal.

That’s called EPOC and that’s why my 10-minute workouts are so damn effective.

The way I design my 10 minute fat loss workouts and the way they’re planned out is that if you do them consistently day after day, and week-after-week your body goes into overdrive for HOURS after you’re done working out, meaning that you burn more calories while NOT working out.

That is the key to an effective 10 minute workout, and that’s why you will lose stomach fat.

But how do I design a workout that really gets the EPOC going?

The thing that fails with most fat loss workout programs you find at the bookstore, or in magazines is that they focus on too many "beach muscle" exercises or "mirror muscles". They spend too much time on isolation movements because they know that you want those…

…even though those exercises are largely worthless when it comes to helping you lose weight and getting rid of stomach fat.

They focus on exercises that give those mirror muscles a 'burn'.

The trouble is that those exercises just don’t crank up the EPOC, which means your metabolism will go right back to normal when you’re done with the workout (just like traditional cardio) and you’ll continue struggling to lose weight and lose stomach fat.

The right way to design a fat loss workout, the way I design my10 minute workouts, is to focus on full body exercises, full body workouts, and "big" movements that create will burn a lot of calories in those 10 minutes and for hours after you’re done with your workout.

Take this little 10-Minute Fat Loss Workout for example:

1A) Push-up w/Hand Raise– 12 reps

1B) DB Lunge – 8 per leg

1C) Burpee – 12 reps

1D) DB Bent Over Row – 8 reps

1E) Fast Mountain Climber – 15 reps/leg

Perform as many total circuits as you can in 10 minutes and you’re done.

That workout works your entire body, and really cranks up the metabolism.

So even while you’re driving to work, sitting at home on the couch, or playing with your kids, you will still be burning fat from your 10 minute fat loss workout earlier in the day.

That is the key to a good 10 minute workout, and to be totally honest, that’s the key to any good fat loss workout. 

Now, what if you have a little extra time - like 5 or 10 more minutes - and want to do a bit more? That's where my add-on workouts come in and here are some links to a couple workout videos demonstrating those:

Abs Workout In 4-Minutes

Arms Workout For Dads

Legs and Butt Workout For Moms

Make sense?

Now rock on and get to workin'!

Other 10 Minute Workout Articles:

10 Minute Fat Loss Workouts  | 10 Minute Workout In Your Underwear  | 10 Minute Workout Using Your Bodyweight  | 10 Minute Workout To Save Free Time  | 10 Minute Workouts  | 10 Minute Workouts For Moms  | 10 Minute Workouts For Stress Relief  | 10 Minute Workouts For Six Pack Abs  | 10 Minute Workout Secrets  | 10 Minute Workouts For Back Pain  | Reasons To Do 10 Minute Home Workouts Instead Of Joining A Gym  | Top Fat Loss Exercises For Women  | Bodyweight Exercises From Home  |