Think you don’t have enough time for a good workout? Before you skip it, ask yourself if you can spare just 10 minutes. That’s all you need to work your major muscle groups and get your heart pumping.
For this workout from The List Maker’s Get Healthy Guide, you’ll need a pair of 3- to 5-pound hand weights. Watch the clock as you perform the following moves, completing as many of each as you can in 1 minute. If you have 20 or 30 minutes—even if it’s split into 10-minute segments throughout the day—by all means, do two or three sets.
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1. Warm up
Start by marching in place for 30 seconds and going into a light jog for 30 seconds, which will help rush blood to your muscles and get you ready to work out.
2. Push-up with a side plank
Do full push-ups with your hands a little wider than your shoulders and your legs straight behind you, or modified push-ups by keeping your knees bent and your ankles crossed. With your abs pulled in and your body in a straight line, lower yourself down and up. After you come up from each push-up, do a side plank. Turn your body to lie on one side with your knees bent and one leg resting on top of the other. With your elbow under your shoulder, tighten your abs and push your hip off the floor, keeping your bottom knee on the floor, and hold for a second before releasing. Alternate sides after each push-up.
3. Front lunge with chest flies
With a 3- to 5-pound hand weight in each hand, step forward with one leg, bending at the knee. Drop your back leg down until your knee almost touches the ground. Be sure that the knee of your front leg doesn’t go past your foot. At the same time as you step into the lunge, lift your weights out to the sides with your palms facing forward. Then push back into a standing position as you press your hands forward to complete the chest fly. Alternate legs as you do the flies.
4. Backward lunge with a triceps kickback
Still holding the hand weights, take a large step backward, dropping your back leg until your knee almost touches the floor. Make sure that your front knee doesn’t go past your foot. Keep your arms bent and your elbows close to your body. As you come up from the lunge, straighten your arms behind you for a triceps kickback. Then return your arms to the starting position before lunging again.
5. Squats and overhead shoulders
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the weights at your shoulders. Bend your knees and lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor, as though you’re about to sit in a chair. Make sure that your knees don’t go past your feet. Then push through your heels and stand up, straightening your arms and clinking the weights together when they’re above your head. Lower your arms back to shoulder height and repeat.
6. Jump squats
Without your weights, squat down and push yourself up into a jump, landing back on your feet before lowering into a squat again. To help keep your balance, it is suggested holding your fists in front of you.
7. Pilé Squats
Stand with your legs a little farther than shoulder-width apart and your feet in a V position. Lower your butt toward the floor as you do for a regular squat, then explode up into a jump. Repeat.
8. The plank
Lie facedown on the floor, then prop yourself on your toes and your elbows, keeping your body in a straight line from your ankles to your head and pulling your abdominal muscles as tight as possible. Hold this position for a full minute. If you can’t stay in this position for 60 seconds, go as long as you can, then take a short break before repeating. Gradually work up to 1 minute straight.
9. Jackknife
This is an advanced move, so it is recommended to do it for 30 seconds rather than a full minute. Lie flat on your back, putting a small rolled-up towel under your lower back if necessary for support. Straighten your arms above your head and tighten your abdominal muscles. Then lift your arms and your legs at the same time, keeping them straight, and touch them where they meet above your body. Lower them and repeat. To make it easier, keep your legs straight up in the air and move your arms toward your legs.
10. Cool down
