Are Short Workouts Really Enough?

Is less than 10 minutes of exercise a day really enough?

I get asked questions like this a lot.

In order to understand duration (under 10 minutes) we also need to understand intensity.

Imagine sprinting flat out for 10 minutes, couldn’t do it right?

Or how about 10 minutes of non stop Kettlebell Swings?

Due to the way the human energy systems are set up…. as Intensity goes up Duration goes down.

So you can walk steady for hours but only sprint for a few seconds.

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Now lets turn to workouts.

Research shows that intensity is what shocks the body into change.

Lifting heavy weights forces the muscles to gain tonicity and grow.

Pushing your cardio forces your heart and lung capacity to increase.

So intensity is good but for newcomers or those unfamiliar with particular exercises high intensity can result in injury.

In order to exercise at high levels of intensity takes preparation.

In my 21 Day Swing program it starts off very steady. Just a few swings each day.

If the program started out with 200 swings then you’d either be sore for days, sustain an injury or be so put off by the intensity that you’d never swing again 🙁

So the program builds up slowly over the 21 Days.

Remember that ligaments and connective tissue take longer to adapt than muscle so to avoid injuries you need to progress slowly.

Once you have developed a strong foundation then you can increase the intensity

So now back to the original question, is less than 10 minutes of exercise enough?

It depends on the intensity…

10 minutes of walking a day is not enough to instigate a change in most people but 10 minutes of:

• Squats
• Swings
• Lunges
• Burpees
• Push Ups
• Cleans
• Snatches
• etc…

This is plenty of intensity, using 100’s of muscles at a time.

And you could these exercises together into a kettlebell flowing workout like this:

Next time you exercise think about time vs intensity.

If you are working at a 7+ out of 10 then the intensity is high enough for a shorter workout.

That’s all for now, take care,

Greg

P.S. I mix up my levels of intensity, sometimes a full day walking in the mountains, other times intensive 10 minute rowing sessions, other times Kettlebell Circuits both heavy and light, sometimes just mobility and meditation.

To see more posts about general kettlebells workouts and advice, go here.