The Power of 10 Minute workouts

Should busy mums be embracing shorter workouts to get better results? Mum and personal trainer Jenny Francis-Townson investigates

WE know the power of regular exercise in transforming our physical and mental wellbeing.

But when you throw parenting into the mix it isn’t always as simple as “finding the motivation” to move your body.

You can have all the motivation in the world, but if you don’t have the TIME to use that motivation and fit in exercise, then it’s pretty useless.

And no one knows this better than mums.

Yes yes we all know about “the juggle” balancing kids, work, a social life, a relationship, healthy eating etc can be, but do the outside world – the non mum fitness tribes – really understand how little time we really have?

Targeting mums with “home workouts” to reduce the time it takes to get to a gym is all well and good, but if these workouts are 40 minutes, it’s still a hell of a lot of time to carve out of ones day.

Enter the new era of 10 minute busy mamma workouts.

Ok, it might not seem convincing at first. Can you really expect to see results and reap the benefits of exercise with just 10 minutes in your living room?

The short answer? Yes.

The long answer, it’s all in the name of working towards consistency.

We know that the biggest barrier to consistent exercise for mums is time. Some days 45 minutes is miraculously doable, but the next week you can’t find that sort of time so you park the idea for another day and don’t fit in a workout.

This is where 10 minute workouts make very regular exercise very possible. AND they bring rewards if done correctly.

According to research, (https://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/Fulltext/2013/05000/HIGH_INTENSITY_CIRCUIT_TRAINING_USING_BODY_WEIGHT_.5.aspx) a seven minute workout can reap huge physical rewards – with a recent study finding that seven minutes of bodyweight high-intensity exercise improves muscular strength, insulin sensitivity and V02 max.

Not bad. But, many of these seven minute workouts you see online don’t include any type of warm up, and are often very beginner led, meaning the exercises don’t quite do it for fitter mums looking to maintain a decent level of physical fitness.

The answer? 10 minute workout blasts.

Why?

Time-efficient

Easy to fit into most schedules

Easy to motivate yourself to do

Non-intimidating

Cardio fitness gains

Huge weightloss benefits

“The benefits of 10 minute workouts are that we can easily fit into most peoples schedules, so we don’t struggle to find the time or motivation to do them,” explains Jenny Francis-Townson, explains Jenny Francis-Townson, celebrity personal trainer, mum, and creator of the “busy mamma” workout series on home fitness app RWL (please link to)

“For most busy, working mums, our minds are constantly racing with things we need to do and it can be very easy to convince ourselves that 30  or 40 minutes of exercise just isn’t possible to squeeze in.

“But, 10 minutes? Oh there is no excuse not to do that.

“Instead of our brain’s telling us “40 minutes is too much, you don’t have the time or energy, there is too much other stuff to do, better leave it,” we are faced with less mental resistance.

“I can easily do that, I better put my gym kit on.”

“And the real beauty? Once we get moving and all that blood pumping round our body gives us that incredible wake up boost, the majority of us find we’re up for way more.

“We suddenly have more energy and realise other tasks can wait while we just carry on for another 10, and another 10.

“It’s allowing our mind to get over the first hurdle which is “I don’t have time to exercise” – once you’re over that, you’re off.”

So, how do you make these exercises effective enough if you are working out for shorter periods of time?

Jenny says: “You want to have a 10 minute exercise plan ready. Whether that’s following an online workout like the ones we have on RWL, or already having it written out and ready, you don’t want to waste time thinking about it.

“You want to keep your warm up to about a minute and work to a decent level of intensity. To measure this I always say, a level that gets your heart rate up enough that holding a conversation is possible, but uncomfortable.

“You can use equipment or your body weight, you can work non stop or use intervals, there are no hard and fast rules exactly, but you want to use that 10 minutes well.”

And it all makes sense. Daily movement is what most experts believe is key to maintaining a healthy weight, reaping the daily mental health benefits of movement and improving your physical health and if 10 minute workouts allow you to fit in daily exercise, rather than 45 minute sessions you can only squeeze in once a week, then 10 minutes wins.

10 minute workout circuit to do TODAY

Warmup march on the spot for 20 seconds

Squat pulses for 20 seconds

Bum kicks for 20 seconds

Circuit

Squat reach

Shuffles

Speed punches

Curtsey lunges

Ski ergs

Walkouts

Quick feet

RWL is a home fitness app designed specifically for busy women. Time efficient workouts, full body training, led by expert PT’s. Get your first 7 days FREE visit rwl.fitness and follow @rwl on instagram