We all know how important fitness is to our health. Yet it’s not always easy to find time for it, or simply to get started. Getting started could be easier once you realize you don’t need to exercise for hours on end to enjoy the health benefits of an active life. Devoting only 10 minutes a day to exercising can help you more than you think.
Here are 5 benefits of working out 10 minutes a day, to inspire you to be active every day.
1. It’s an attainable goal
Everyone has 10 minutes to spare. A 10 minute physical activity is a goal that you can easily achieve, even if you have a busy schedule. It’s manageable and it can be easily included in your daily routine. When you start working out, setting goals that are too ambitious could set you up for failure, because it may lead to discouragement and eventually to quitting. But 10 minutes are easy to manage, and you can adjust this daily goal as you go.
2. It’s sustainable over time
It’s not uncommon for people to get bored of exercising when the routines are long and tedious. However, an easy daily exercise routine that only lasts 10 minutes doesn’t get boring. You can try different workouts every day and try different kinds of training to find out what you like best.
3. It can be done anywhere, anytime
A daily 10 minute workout can be exercised (pun actually intended:) anywhere and at any time of the day. Do you have a short coffee break? You can climb up the stairs, take a walk or do a quick workout routine. Are you doing house chores and waiting for the washing machine to finish? You know what to do!
4. It improves your health parameters
Research indicates that even brisk daily exercise routines could improve our concentration levels, memory performance and life expectancy. Not that 10 minutes a day is the officially recommended time for working out, but nevertheless it does have a beneficial effect on our key health parameters.
5. It builds your accomplishment muscle
When you start working out 10 minutes a day, you’ll notice a “weird” phenomenon taking place. You’ll want to increase this time span shortly, slowly but surely. That’s the beauty of this thing called “achieving goals”. It leaves you wanting more. In this case, you’ll slowly see yourself increasing these 10 minutes to 15, 20, 30 and higher.
Exercising for 10 minutes a day can make a big difference to your overall health in the long term. However the key point to remember is that this is a technique meant to challenge you to want more and achieve more. A daily 10 minute workout is great for getting started and creating a daily positive habit. The more you do this, the more you’ll realize you have the strength, desire and time(!) to do more.
Need motivation to get started? Get our Wellness Planner and create daily healthy habits.