Fitness is not a 5 minute pursuit + how to squeeze in an effective workout

4 MINUTE ARMS.
5 MINUTE ABS.
6 MINUTE BELLY BLAST.
7 MOVES IN 7 MINUTES.

Oh, the catchy magazine taglines. You’ve probably looked at phrases like that and thought to yourself, “Man, that sounds too good to be true.” Well, it is.

The fitness industry and magazine editors love to throw this stuff out there (it’s clickbait since before we were clicking). Can you really get an effective workout and reach your goals by just dedicating a few minutes per day? Our answer is, unequivocally, NO. But let us explain why.

Let’s frame why most people exercise to begin with. Yes, your general health will improve through exercise, but on a more basic level we just want to look good and be happy about our bodies. In order to achieve an improved physique, it takes a combination of consistent healthy eating habits + consistent exercise.

Committing a handful of minutes per day is not going to get you there. For example, 5 minutes per day would be 0.3% of your time. So what the heck are you doing the other 99.7% of the day?!?

Also, what can you really accomplish in 5 minutes? Our warm-ups typically take 5-7 minutes alone.

At Elevate, we consider an effective workout routine to include resistance training, strategic rest periods, and opportunities to push the limits of your thresholds for heart rate/oxygen capacity/etc. It is simply not possible to accomplish these things with just a few minutes per day. The good news is it doesn’t have to take hours of your day either!

If you find yourself in a time crunch, you can absolutely get some solid work in during a relatively short amount of time. Let’s use an example of a 30 minute window with minimal equipment…

Set a clock to count up from 0-30 minutes. Structure your time to make it more effective:

Minutes 0-5: go through a dynamic warm up (jumping jacks, short jog, lunges, things to get your joints moving)

Minutes 5-15: alternate some strength movements on the minute (ex: 10 goblet squats on the even minutes, 15 KB swings on the odd minutes)

Minutes 15-17: rest

Minutes 17-25: continuously cycle through 3 bodyweight movements at 10-20 reps each (like push-ups, lunges, squats, burpees, etc).

Minutes 25-30: cool down and light stretching

Now THAT could get you into some decent shape if you are looking to dedicate a minimal amount of time (assuming you are keeping your nutrition in check!). AND it doesn’t have to be very complicated.

So next time you see that magazine in the checkout line telling you to get shredded in 60 seconds, just smile because you know better 🙂

If you want professional guidance and coaching to get going on YOUR fitness routine, hit us up at [email protected]. We’d love to help!