You made a promise to yourself to exercise more [1]. Just because you feel like you can't carve out an hour a day to hit the gym doesn't mean you should just give up. It doesn't take much — even 10 minutes of raising your heart rate and burning your muscles is enough!
Try this 10-minute workout made up of four basic bodyweight moves [3]. It's an AMRAP workout [4], which means you do as many rounds as possible within 10 minutes.
The Workout:
Directions: Set the timer for 10 minutes, and complete as many rounds of the below four-move workout as you can with correct form.
10 squats
5 AbMat sit-ups [5] (diamond sit-ups; you can place an AbMat under your lower back for support)
10 lunges
5 knee push-ups
If you're not sure how to do these exercises, see the detailed explanations ahead.
Air Squat
- Begin with your feet slightly wider than hip's width apart and toes pointed slightly outward. Bring the hands together in front of your chest.
- Keeping weight in your heels, sit back into a deep squat. Make sure your knees do not go beyond your toes or roll in or out of alignment. Keep your abs engaged as you squat.
- Deepen your abdominal engagement as you press through your heels to return to standing, completing one rep.
- Do a total of 10 reps.
Diamond Sit-Up
- Lie on your back and open your legs into a diamond shape (known as Butterfly pose in yoga), with the soles of your feet pressed together and knees out wide. Place an AbMat underneath your lower back for added support.
- Extend the arms overhead.
- Curl the torso up, and tap the floor in front of your feet.
- Slowly lower back to the starting position to finish off one rep.
- Complete five reps.
Alternating Forward Lunge
- Stand tall with your feet hip's width distance apart. Bend the elbows at your sides or rest your hands on the hips.
- Step forward with the right foot, lowering your hips until both knees are bent at about a 90-degree angle. Keep the front knee directly above the ankle, and lower the left knee to just above the floor.
- Keep the weight in your heels as you push back to the starting position, completing one rep.
- Repeat stepping with the left foot this time, completing a second rep.
- Keep alternating for a total of 10 reps (five per side).
Knee Push-Ups
- Begin in plank with your knees on the mat.
- Exhale to bend the elbows, lowering into a push-up. Inhale to straighten your arms. This completes one rep.
- Do 5 reps. If you're able to do push-ups without your knees on the floor [7], go for it!