All of us have heard the grandiose claims of one obnoxious weight loss product after another – all of them claiming fast, easy results.
If all of those products work so quickly and easily, why are there still so many overweight people, I wonder?
The answer is, of course, that those products don't work that quickly or that easily. The simple truth of the matter is that if you want to lose weight or strengthen your body, you are going to have to make a consistent effort.
However, all of that being said, you can make significant progress in a very short amount of time – if you know what you are doing. So, the "quickly" part of the product claims can at least be partially validated, but if you want to shave some time off of your exercise session, something else will have have to replace it.
That something is Intensity.
Have you or someone you know gone to a gym consistently for months, worked out for an hour or more each time you were there, yet still failed to see any significant or long-term results?
Most people are at least familiar with that concept, even if they themselves have not taken part in it. The very simple reason why that happens is because those people are not exercising with enough intensity while they are at the gym.
Simply hanging around at the gym without breaking a sweat is not going to do you much good. I'm sorry to have to be the one to break that to you!
Whether you work out for 10 minutes or for 2 hours, the intensity level of your workout must be in alignment with whatever your goal is.
So, can you get a good workout in 10 minutes or less? Absolutely! Here is the hard part, though – you have to workout for the entire 10 minutes!
Normally when we exercise, we go from one activity to the next in no particular hurry. Even if we are doing challenging exercises, every time we get into a "rest" position, the intensity level of that exercise session immediately starts to drop.
If you want to get a good workout in 10 minutes or less, the simple truth is that you don't have a second to waste!
Your body is not used to being exercised non-stop for any extended period of time at a high intensity level. Yes, you can stroll around a park or a mall for hours, but we are not talking about strolling here. We are talking about the kind of exercise intensity that after only 1 minute makes you seriously wonder if you'll make it through 9 more minutes!
Don't believe that kind of intensity is possible? Stop what you are doing right now, drop down to the floor wherever you are, and start knocking out push-ups. Do them non-stop, dropping your chest all the way to within one inch of the floor, pushing yourself all the way back up, and then repeating that movement.
Do it for as long as you are physically able to. When your shoulders and arms can't take it anymore, DO NOT let your knees touch the ground! Remain in the upright position without locking your elbows, and keeping your back flat with no sagging, and without your knees touching the floor.
Go ahead and try it. This post will still be right here when you get back…
One of two things will happen at this point. You will either actually do those push-ups, and last for maybe 3 or 4 minutes before either your arms or your lower back gives out, or, you didn't even try because you knew there was no way that you were going to be able to do very many push-ups.
And that's just one exercise!
Imagine if you did that non-stop and included properly executed squats, lunges, jumping jacks, squat thrusts, and any of the other hundreds of body weight exercises.
Imagine if you did each exercise one immediately after the other, with literally not even 5 or 10 seconds to catch your breath in between each movement.
Do you think that you would stress your muscles beyond their normal capacity? Do you think that you would get your heart rate up pretty high? Do you think that you would burn through some calories, and crank up your metabolism?
There is a common term for an activity that stresses your muscles, makes your heart beat faster, burns calories, and turns up your metabolism.
That term is Exercise.
So, the next time you are flipping through infomercials and you seriously want to believe that you can get abs of steel in 8 minutes or less, why not try this instead:
Turn off the TV, drop down right there on your living room floor and knock out 10 minutes worth of truly high-intensity exercise. Don't stop until 10 minutes is up or until you literally can't move another muscle.
Do that every day for a month, and I guarantee that you will lose weight, not to mention getting significantly stronger than you were before.
Then you can decide if you want to spend the money for the 8-minute ab routine, or if you'll just stick to your own 10-minute bodyweight workout that doesn't cost you a dime.
Great article.
Goes to that class of “oh I don’t have enough time” people. Everyone has the time, no one puts their time in the right perspective.
I try and explain to people that they are the most powerful force in their own world because they can exhibit choice. If they are choosing bad things then they’ve made that commitment. If they want to change they have to start using their powers for the good of themselves. It doesn’t take much, and it doesn’t take long, but it does take the correct choices.
-a
That’s great advice, Andy!
Everyone thinks that they are the “victims” in their lives, when in all actuality, every single day is a chance to start doing things the right way and making choices that are going to take our lives where we want them to be.
Great stuff, Andy – thanks for your comment.
- Aaron