FitnessU

Short duration workouts, when done correctly, are both effective and efficient. To maximize the benefits of a short duration workout, it’s important to move frequently and quickly while maintaining proper technique. Doing so challenges the cardiovascular system, improves awareness, and increases the rate of metabolism. It’s also important to consider the work-to-rest ratio. In this workout, the ratio is 1:1. In other words, for every 30 seconds of activity there is at least 30 seconds of rest. An additional 60 seconds of rest separates each round of four exercises. This 10-minute workout is perfect whether you’re short on time in the morning, need a quick study break, or simply feel too busy.

Jumping jacks 30 seconds
Stand with feet together and arms at your sides. Hop your feet apart and simultaneously swing your arms overhead. Hop your feet back together and swing your arms back to your sides. These will act as a warm-up by raising your heart rate and preparing the body for activity. Remember, complete as many repetitions as possible with proper technique in the allotted time.

Rest 30 seconds

Knee-touch crunches 30 seconds
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. With arms extended, your hands should be about 6 inches away from your knees. Lift your shoulders off the ground by flexing your abdominal muscles to touch the top of your knees with your hands.

Rest 30 seconds

Basic burpees 30 seconds
From standing, bend over and bring each hand to the floor. Step back to the plank position. In this position, your hands and feet are on the floor with hips neutral so that your back forms a straight line. Step in with both feet and return to the standing position. If you become light-headed, slow down and remember to breathe. This keeps the heart rate up and challenges both the upper and lower extremities.

Rest 30 seconds

Incline pushups 30 seconds
Place your hands on an inclined surface 1 to 3 feet off the floor. The higher the incline, the easier the pushup. Using a stable chair, bench, or stairs is optimal. Feet remain on the ground. Hips should be neutral so that you form a straight line from the shoulders to the feet. Bend your arms to lower your chest. Your arms should bend to about 90 degrees before pressing to bring your body back to the starting position.

Rest 90 seconds

Repeat 2x

—Submitted by Frankie R., Lipscomb University

If time is a factor or it’s tough to be motivated to do a long workout, you can set 10 minutes aside to perform a mini workout.

What do you need:

• Yoga mat
• Set of dumbbells
• Stopwatch

The weight factor should make the exercises challenging but still done with proper form. This is an intermediate level workout that can be done anywhere but requires dumbbells or hand weights. If you like to work at an easier level you may do the routine with no weights at all. These exercises involve compound movements, which is working multiple muscles and joints at once. Compound moves are more challenging than single joint exercises (isolating working muscles) and can maximize the workout’s effectiveness in less time.

Start with a short warm up of body weight squats, lunges, side bends, and a light march or jog. This will get your joints and muscles warm and prepared to workout.

The objective is to perform each exercise for 30 seconds (around 12-15 reps) with little or no rest in between. This is to keep the heart rate up continuously to challenge your cardiovascular system and muscular endurance in the short session. After completing the first set of moves, take a short break and repeat three more times.

Dumbbell squats: Have one dumbbell held up by the chest or two resting on your shoulders. Stand with legs about shoulder-width apart, squat down through the hip and knee like you are about to sit into a chair. Keeping the knees from going past the toes and the chest upright, drive with your heels in the floor as you rise up. Continue with the squats for 30 seconds.

Straight leg deadlift with bent over row: With dumbbells in each hand, soft knees but relatively straight legs, hinge forward from the hips. Your shoulders are rolled back and the back is straight. Row the dumbbells towards your torso by squeezing the upper back muscles, bring the weights down, and contract the glutes and hamstrings as you hinge back to standing upright, repeat. Watch for any rounding of the back, if that happens do not tilt as far down and focus on bringing the glutes towards the back wall.

A variation is to use one leg for those with no weights.

Reverse lunges with bicep curls: With weights in each hand, lunge one foot back and bend the knees to make a 90-degree bend in both legs. Make sure your front knee is above the ankle. As you lunge, perform a bicep curl with the weights. Bring the feet back together and lower the weights, then do a lunge on the other leg.

Chest fly in bridge: Lie on the floor with your back and head on the mat. Bring the soles of the feet close to the body and the knees towards each other. With your core tight, lift the hips up into a bridge pose. Take the weights and hold them above the chest you’re your palms in. Bend the elbows slightly open and squeeze the chest to bring the weights back up. If you have no weights, a set pushups can be an alternative.

Crunch with leg extensions: Place the weights away and lower your hips down. Have your knees above your hips and hands by your ears. Keeping the chin off the chest, curl up in a standard crunch. You can continue with the crunches or extend one or both legs out at the top part of the crunch. Make sure your lower back is not arching excessively, if so bend the knees or take it down a level.

Rest for about 30 seconds to a minute before repeating the set. Aim to do the combo three times for approximately 10 minutes of work.

—Submitted by Florence S., University of Saskatchewan

Ninja jump
From a kneeling position sitting on your heels, use your hips to explosively jump up into a bottom squat position, using an arm swing to help propel you up and slightly forward. Keep your core and upper body neutral, while focusing on jumping and landing with both feet even and straight as possible into a supported bottom squat position – nothing should be unstable. From here, kneel back down one leg at a time.

To test your strength before going into this one, try a step up squat. From the same kneeling position, bring one leg up at a time and hold yourself in a bottom squat position. No momentum should be needed to get you into this position and you will bring both knees right back onto the floor one leg at a time once you get into the bottom of a squat. Make sure you can do 10 reps total of this exercise with good form before trying the ninja jump.

Power burpee
With hands planted on the floor from a standing position, leap both legs back and land in a solid plank pose and go down into a pushup as in a regular burpee. From here, explosively push back up so that you’re able to land in a bottom squat position with your feet. Once you land, go immediately into the next rep by leaping your feet back again instead of standing straight up.

Knee jumps
From a standing position, jump high enough that you’re able to bring both knees up towards your chest while in mid-air. Before landing, re-straighten your legs and absorb the landing while loading up to go directly into another jump.

If you aren’t able to efficiently coordinate each landing and tie together reps, use jump squats instead until the absorb and rebound transition is smooth.

—Submitted by Chase S., Northern Illinois University