10-Minute Workouts for Busy Women

exerciseBy Elisabeth Grant (Washington, D.C.)

We want you to become a stronger businesswoman. Literally. But while you know exercise can strengthen your body, did you know it can strengthen your brain too?

A number of recent studies show that aerobic exercise increases brain functioning (see articles from the New York Times, Scientific American, and ABC News). With exercise being both good for your mind and body, there’s no excuse to not do it, right?

Oh wait, there’s just that one small detail: time. In this post we offer some tips for both finding the time and also wanting to find the time (in other words, how to make exercise fun).

If You Have 10 Minutes

Most doctors recommend 30 to 40 minutes of exercise daily. But who says you have to do it all at once? It can be hard to find 30 free minutes at a time, but there are often 10 minutes here and there when you can fit a workout in. And, if you can find spare 10 minutes slots 3 times a day, voila! You’ll accomplish the recommended 30 minutes of activity (hear NPR’s take on this idea). Now, what to do with those ten minutes? While some days a brisk ten minute walk will do, here are some other suggestions for more variety in your 10 minute workout:

  • 100 Calories in 10 Minutes – Try this ten minute workout from About.com that incorporates a different exercise each minute. It starts and ends with a minute of walking, and in between there’s jogging, jumping jacks, and more.
  • Oprah’s 10 Minute Workouts – The health section of Oprah.com offers three detailed ten minute workouts, complete with helpful images of how each move should be done.
  • 10 Minute Full Body Workout – This 10 minute workout comes from Lance Armstrong’s trainer Peter Park, and works on strength moves for every area of your body.
  • 10 Minute workouts for the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced – The SparkPeople site offers multiple ten minute workouts that combine cardio and strength training. Click on each exercise for a detailed explanation and video example of it.
  • 8-minute workouts – You’ve probably heard of 8-minute abs (and arms, and legs, and stretch), which came out years ago. Well, they’re now available for free on YouTube, accessible to you as long as you have an internet connection. Yes, they’re only 8 minutes, but these workouts are challenging enough to make that okay. If you still want to get in a 10 minute workout just start and end with a minute of walking. Doing three or four of these workouts a day is easy to do since they work different parts of the body.

Exercise as an Indulgence

While “I have no time” is often the excuse behind not working out, it’s not always the whole reason. Many people just find exercising to be a chore. So the first step in becoming more active is to re-imagine it. Instead of thinking, “I have to work out” think “I get to work out.” Make exercise your “me” time. When you work out you get to have 10 minutes, 30 minutes, maybe even an hour to yourself. That’s time to not think about deadlines, or conference calls, or email, but rather, about how you’re feeling and how to feel even better. It’s also a chance to catch up on some other fun things you might not have time for, like:

  • Podcasts: Catch up on NPR’s Fresh Air, learn some quick and dirty tips from Grammar Girl or the Nutrition Diva, take a different look at the world with Radio Lab, or immerse yourself in This American Life (my personal favorite). If you have an iPod or an MP3 player you can stock up on audio entertainment, a perfect distraction at the gym.
  • Books: Remember when you used to read books? Countless novels, mysteries, and biographies. If it seems like there’s never a free moment these days use your gym time to read what you want. If you’re riding a stationary bike, scaling the stair climber, or walking on the treadmill it’s very easy to read that book that’s been sitting on your bedside table since who-knows-when.
  • Magazines: If you don’t have time for books then you probably really don’t have time for magazines. But again, the gym is an opportunity to partake in reading what you want (whether it’s O Magazine, Wired, or In Touch Weekly).
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