Short on Time? The Best Five Exercises to Perform on Busy Days

We all have days when we’re short on time and think there’s no way we’ll be able to fit in a workout. This is especially true as we mature, seeing as those of us who are committed to exercise over 40 are also juggling multiple roles – career, family, homeowner, and traveler. That’s why it’s important to identify exercises you can perform on busy days.

The key to these exercises is the fact that they can be done quickly and yet have maximum impact. These exercises are all either high calorie burners or are very challenging for your muscles, giving you an intense mini workout at the beginning and end of your day. This way you can invest about twenty minutes of your day (ten in the morning and ten at night) and still get a decent workout in.

The following are the perfect five exercises for those days when you can hardly keep up with your schedule. Use them together to create a high intensity, effective (but super short) work out. Set your stopwatch when you begin, and move quickly and fluidly from one exercise to the other until your ten minutes is over. Repeat at night before bed.

Jump Rope
While we don’t advise jumping rope for a long period of time if you have weak joints, most people over 40 can fit in five to ten minutes of jumping rope without injuring themselves. Be sure to wear athletic shoes (the more cushioning the better) and to bend your knees while you jump.

Jumping rope is such intense exercise that you’ll notice your heart rate soars within the first minute. Pay attention to your exertion level. You may need to jump rope for one minute, move into another of the five exercises listed here for a minute, and then return to jumping rope.

If you weigh 150 pounds, you will burn about 66 calories in just five minutes of jumping rope. That’s 138 calories if you manage to jump rope for ten minutes! Not bad, huh?

Squats
When you feel your heart rate is getting too high, switch to squats. Keeping your back straight and your weight back, ease yourself into deep squats. Keep your heels on the ground and be sure to not dip deeper than a 90-degree angle, keeping your knees above your toes (not over or past your toes – that can cause injury.) Rest against the wall (in a sitting squat that you hold) or gently squat and stand, squeezing your buttocks each time you stand. This will work your large muscles and burn calories.

Plank
When your legs are really feeling the burn, you’ll want to lie down on the floor on your stomach. Lift yourself into a plank position, keeping your core tight, your back straight and your hands under your shoulders. Hold the plank position as long as you can (without letting your back sink down.) When you are too tired to hold this excellent core-strengthening exercise any longer, get back up and sink into lunge walking.

Lunge Walking
This is an excellent lower body workout that can leave you sore in a matter of minutes. Sink into a lunge, keeping your knee over your front foot. When you stand up from the lunge, step forward (with the leg that was in back), sinking into yet another lunge. Lunge-walk across the room until you feel the burn.

Push Ups
Return to plank position, but this time do at least fifteen push ups. Complete push ups until you cannot do them properly any longer.

Repeat from Beginning Until Your Ten Minutes Is Up
Jump rope until your stopwatch goes off. Take your shower and head out for your day. Repeat the routine for ten minutes before bed. You’ll find this simple 20-minute workout routine (which can easily be split into two ten-minute workouts) is effective for days when you are short on time.


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