If you had more time, you would totally exercise more often, right?
Tough trainers and hardcore fitness gurus like to argue that the "I don't have enough time" excuse is invalid. They like to post "inspirational" graphics that read, "It's not about having time, it's about making time," on Instagram and they'll tell you that if you really wanted to get in shape you wouldn't be making silly excuses.
And while the "gurus" may be a little bit right, the truth is that many of us really are strapped for time. Between work, kids, school and the everyday obstacles that life loves to throw our way, it can be a challenge trying to figure out how to fit exercise into a hectic schedule.
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Part of the problem is that there seems to be a huge misconception about how much exercise we really need. Have you ever thought something like, "Well, I don't have time for a full 30-minute workout, so I guess I can't exercise at all today"?
For some reason, we've been led to believe that we need to spend something like an hour at the gym or rack up at least a few miles on a run in order to get a "good" workout. But the truth is, doing something, even if it's just for five or ten minutes, is always better than doing nothing.
It just so happens that there's new science to back that theory up. According to a recent study in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, clocking in just a few minutes of vigorous exercise daily could reduce your risk for premature death.
That means, if you can change your excuse from "I don't have time" to "I don't have a lot of time," then you're in luck. If you can spare 10 minutes a day, you can reap all the same health and fitness benefits as those crazy people who seem to spend hour upon hour working out. And if you work hard enough, you can get a great calorie burn, too.
But remember, it all depends on your heart rate. The number of calories you burn while exercising is directly related to your heart rate, which is why tracking your exercise with a heart rate monitor is the most accurate way of keeping track of your calorie burn. It also depends on other factors like your height, age, weight and sex.
But remember, it all depends on your heart rate. The number of calories you burn while exercising is directly related to your heart rate, which is why tracking your exercise with a heart rate monitor is the most accurate way of keeping track of your calorie burn. It also depends on other factors like your height, age, weight and sex.
To compile this list of exercises that will burn about 100 calories in 10 minutes, I used information based on data for a 5-foot-tall, 115-pound, 24-year-old female (that's me) from both my own heart rate monitor and the HealthStatus.com calorie burn calculator.
According to my heart rate monitor, I burned about 143 calories during a 40-minute bodyweight workout with callisthenic exercises. When I entered my information (gender, age, height, weight) in the Health Status calculator and plugged in those same workout figures, it estimated I would burn about 160 calories.
This helped to confirm the accuracy of the Health Status calculator. Although it's not perfect, it was the most accurate of all the online calculators that I tested, which goes to show that you really need a heart rate monitor if you want to get a good idea of how many calories you're burning, and even then, you still only have an estimate.
Nonetheless, the following list of exercises will likely help you rack up a significant calorie burn in about 10 minutes. If you kick up the intensity and go all out, you might even be able to burn more than 100 calories. It all depends on how hard you work.
Read on to find out which exercises are best if you only have a few minutes to spare.
Oh and don't forget, exercising isn't all about burning calories. Remember that you're also doing this to get fit, feel good and have fun.
-Katie Rosenbrock, The Active Times
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