Micro workouts offer a ton of benefits. In fact, working out, in general, can help you live longer, enjoy your body more, and get the most out of life. But a lot of us struggle to establish and maintain a workout routine.
If this sounds like you, keep reading. Or jump to exactly what you need using the table of contents below:
Table of Contents
- The Problem:
- The Solution:
- The 4 Biggest Benefits of Micro Workout Routines
- How to Get Started with Micro Workouts
- 2 Example Micro Workout Routines
- Conclusion
The Problem:
- You want to workout but don’t have time
- You struggle to be consistent with your workouts
- You’re too tired to work out
The Solution:
MICRO WORKOUTS.
PS: You can get a free, seasonal workout printable with an example HERE.
What exactly are micro workouts?
Traditional workouts generally last 30-90 minutes depending on the person. There’s also a lot of pressure on women in their thirties to, “put in the time.” Expectations about how we should live and what we should look like are everywhere.
Even if you don’t get pressure from friends and family (often unintentional), there’s a lot of pressure in terms of targeted advertisements and marketing. We’re buffeted with it every day.
But do you really need to workout for an hour or more to see results?
Probably not.
How much time you spend working out comes down to your goals, what you enjoy, and your available time. There is absolutely no reason to stick with a workout/fitness routine that makes you miserable.
I promise, there are other ways to get the same benefits without the misery.
This is where micro workouts fit in. Micro workouts offer many of the same benefits as traditional workouts, but allow you to divide your time differently. They usually last anywhere between 5-20 minutes, which makes them great for busy professionals and parents. And because they’re shorter, it’s easier to start and keep the habit.
These types of workouts can be performed anywhere, without the need for special equipment, making them idea for people who have limited home gyms and a hard time getting to a regular gym.
They’re also great for people who like to get in their cardio outside by biking, hiking, running, or swimming, because they can be done at a trailhead, in a park, or poolside. Generally, they include a variety of exercises such as body weight exercises, HIIT routines, yoga poses and flows, and simple dynamic stretches.
The key with micro workouts is to engage in exercises that you enjoy doing or appreciate the benefit of and that are intense enough to provide meaningful movement in a short timeframe.
Incorporating micro workouts into your daily routine can help you reap the benefits of an active lifestyle without the need for long gym sessions. They can also help you break up sedentary periods throughout the day, which also provides energy.
The 4 Biggest Benefits of Micro Workout Routines
Benefit #1:
They work. Consistent use of micro workouts that support your goals not only help you live longer, but they can help you shape the body you want.
For some of us, that means increasing endurance for an athletic event. For some of us, that means toning our legs so we feel confident in leggings. For others, it might mean building core strength to protect our spines as we age.
According to the Society of Behavior Medicine, when planned effectively, a 10-minute workout three times per week can increase endurance by 20%. In other words, some movement is always better than no movement. So don’t let perfection be the enemy here.
And yes, this counts for body recomposition, too. There is evidence that micro workouts can help you build muscle more efficiently. And many micro workouts rely on compound workouts that use multiple joints at once. Compound workouts are great for changing how your body looks (if that’s your goal).
Whatever your goal for you body (performance, general health, or appearance), micro workouts can help you get there.
Benefit #2:
They are time efficient. These workouts are amazing for busy schedules. They allow you to fit in physical activity even during the busiest days or during times of recovery or post-injury. There’s a reason physical therapy routines are short.
Since micro workouts are short, they can be fit in between tasks without requiring significant commitment in terms of time, equipment, or clothing. One of the major barriers a lot of people run into with working out is having to change into an entirely new outfit. Micro workouts support only changing shoes or a shirt, or even changing nothing, instead of changing your entire ensemble.
Benefit #3:
They’re length helps you stay consistent. It’s also easier to jump back on the bandwagon after falling off for a little while. Staying consistent with a workout is really hard. A lot of us plan something really ambitious and then can’t stick with it. Or changes in circumstances like a promotion at work, a new baby, or a vacation break into our routines.
But we all know that consistency is key when you’re trying to achieve your fitness goals. The shorter the workout, the easier it is to stay consistent because a shortened time frame lowers the barrier to entry for exercise.
Rather than needing to set aside a huge block of time each day or every other day, you can engage with fitness throughout the day. Even if you forget and remember later, it’s easy to fit in 5 minutes of legs before you crawl into bed, which makes it much easier to stay active on a regular basis.
You also don’t have to worry about finding a gym while on vacation, which is a plus for those of us who travel a lot for work, family, or pleasure.
Benefit #4:
Micro workouts improve your metabolism and energy levels. Even short bursts of exercise, like a 10-minute walk, have a positive impact on how your body processes food, how awake you feel, how well you sleep later, maintaining a healthy blood pressure, and helping you live longer and happier in general.
The more active you are, even in short chunks, the better your blood flow and the more calories you burn throughout the day.
And micro workouts help you break up sedentary periods, which is incredibly important for longevity. Sedentary lifestyles have a number of associated risks, including increased risk of chronic disease, reduced cognitive capabilities, depression and anxiety, joint and mobility issues, and reduced life expectancy.
Micro workouts help you fight all of those in simple, enjoyable chunks.
How to Get Started with Micro Workouts
You can learn more about making a workout routine you love, including advice on goal-setting and self-assessment here.
The advice for getting started with a micro workout routine is pretty similar to getting started with any workout routine. Always start with your goals.
Setting clear goals is essential for achieving any fitness progress or even just maintaining a routine. Goals help keep you motivated when you feel grumpy and tired.
Whether you want to change your shape a bit, improve your overall fitness, build strength, increase flexibility, or simply incorporate more movement into your day, writing down your goals will help guide your workouts and keep you consistent.
Once you know what your goals are, it becomes a lot easier to figure out your priorities in terms of which exercises you want to do.
There are so many potential exercise routines out there that’s easy to get really overwhelmed really quickly. There are like 20 different variations on squats alone, and most of us don’t want to waste our time doing exercises that don’t actually give us the benefits we’re looking for.
So, as you design your micro workout, challenge yourself to set limits. Select only a few exercises. Try to find ones that target the muscles groups or skills that matter most to you based on your goals, and try to focus on exercises that can be done without equipment (or with minimal equipment).
Yoga and barre are both great for this. So are bodyweight exercises, which you can normally modify pretty easily. Don’t panic if you can’t do a push-up, most of us can’t. There are ways to modify any bodyweight exercise to make it accessible for your fitness level.
If you need help with this, feel free to send me an email ([email protected])!
Once, you’ve got a list of exercises, you’ll need to design your routine. This is always one of my favorite parts of the process. I like to reassess my fitness plan every 3-months or so (usually with the change in the seasons). It keeps the workouts fresh and it means I don’t have to stick with something I dislike for too long.
You’ll need to design the structure and duration of your micro workout routine. Remember, you’re aiming for 5-15 minutes. Some people like to do a single circuit of exercises while others like to create a series of mini circuits that target different muscle groups.
Lots of people like to alternate between lower body exercises and upper body to get a full-body quick session. You might decide that you want 2-3 micro workout routines and then you can just plug them into different days or times, which brings us to the final point: you have to actually schedule your workouts.
I recommend you pick a time and a back up time in case something comes up. Check your schedule for pockets of time throughout the day where you can fit in some movement.
Some of us do great with short workouts right after we roll out of bed (not me), while some of us like to do micro workouts before we sit down to watch tv in evening. You might try all three. For example, you might do strength training first thing in the morning, a bit of cardio before you relax for the night, and then a short yoga routine before bed to help you calm down and re-center before sleep.
A good goal is to try and incorporate at least one micro workout session into your day about 3-4 days a week. You can build in frequency as you build in consistency.
Remember, the key to consistency is a low barrier to entry, the ability to see progress over time, and choosing exercises you enjoy. Human beings tend to avoid things they hate, and life is too short for unpleasant workouts anyway. Don’t be afraid to experiment until you find what works best for you and to make changes when necessary (even in the middle of a workout!)
2 Example Micro Workout Routines
Let’s take a look at a couple of micro workout routines so you can see different ways you might structure your routine. The first routine is a strength training routine. The second one is a cardio routine.
Workout #1: Strength (total body)
Duration: Try to do each exercise for 30-60 seconds, depending on your fitness and available time. Rest for 10-20 seconds between each exercise (if you want to). Repeat the circuit 2-3 times for a complete workout.
Short explanation:
- Squats
- Push-ups
- Stand cross crunches
- Good mornings/modified dead lifts
- Shoulder rows
Exercise 1: Squats.
Choose your favorite variation of squats for this one and don’t worry about weight. If you want to add dumbbells or kettlebells, feel free, but it’s not a necessity. You can make the squats more intense by speeding up your work out or pulsing at the bottom of each squat. Some of my favorite squat variations are:
- Regular squats
- Regular squats into calf raises
- Sumo squats
Exercise #2: Push-ups
There are, quite possibly, as many variations on push-ups as there are on squats. I like to do push ups with my hands just outside of shoulder-width.
Then, as a I lower myself, I make sure my elbows point back in the general direction of my toes. These are sometimes called “military push-ups,” and they aren’t the easiest, but they hit SO MANY MUSCLE GROUPS.
You can modify them by doing them against a wall, on a counter, on your knees, or doing negative push-ups.
Exercise #3: Standing core, knee to elbow touch
Standing core exercises can be killer effective, and these are no exception. You stand with your feet, shoulder-width apart, then you reach up with one hand. The goal is to bring your arm down and your opposite leg up at the same time and touch your knee to your elbow. For these to be effective, you need to keep a tight core the whole time.
You can do these quickly and explosively or slowly and still see a lot of benefit. On top of working your core, it also forces you to develop stronger balance and hips.
Exercise 4: Good mornings
We’re back to legs with this one, but we’re going to target the hamstrings, glutes, and groin. You’ll stand with feet either hip or shoulder width apart (whichever is more comfortable). You want your legs straight, but your knees UNlocked. Your toes should point straight ahead or very slightly out. When you do this exercise, imagine all of your energy going through the center of your foot, right behind the ball.
If you feel your balance rolling to the inside, outside, back, or front of your foot, bring your attention back to that point in the center behind the ball. This helps to keep your knees in the optimum position.
You can do these weighted or unweighted. For unweighted, simply cross your arms over your chest, or touch your ears with your hands and engage your shoulder blades and back muscles. For weighted, you can hold something heavy close to your chest like a book or weight plate. Or if you have a barbell, you can put that on your shoulders with hands slightly wider than shoulder width.
Before you start moving, brace your abs and lock your shoulder blades back and down. Then hinge at the hips and descend through a maximum range of motion where you can still maintain good posture. You want to keep your back flat and your core braced at all times. Then reverse the pattern, pushing the hips forward to return to the starting position.
Exercise 5: Shoulder rows
For shoulder rows, you want to find an object like a dumbbell, water jug, gallon of milk, or resistance band– just something to give you some feedback and resistance. Then you stand with feet shoulder or hip width apart and hinge at the hips with knees slightly bent and your core engaged.
Stop in the hinge when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
From here let your weighted arm dangle straight toward the floor. Then, keeping your hips and shoulders pointed toward the ground instead of rotating, pull up with that arm, driving your elbow toward the ceiling. Repeat this motion, maintaining a tight core, for the length of one circuit (30-60 seconds).
Then repeat on the other side, or you can alternate hands on each rep. Dealer’s choice.
Workout #2: Cardio
Cardio mini workouts focus on raising your hear rate and increasing your cardiovascular endurance in a short amount of time. If you just don’t have it in you for something a little more intense, I encourage you to go for a 10-minute walk 3x a week. If you are looking for something a little more intense check out this workout:
Duration: perform each exercise for 30-60 seconds, depending on your time and fitness level. Rest for 10-15 seconds between exercises if needed or desired. You can also go longer or shorter with your rest periods (do what works for you and gradually push yourself to rest less). You can do this circuit once, or repeat 2-3 times if you have some extra minutes.
Exercise 1: Jumping Jacks
Most of us know how to do these, so I won’t include an explanation. You can also look for some jumping jack variations on YouTube. You want to land softly and try not to pause in between bounces. Constant movement is the goal.
Exercise 2: High Knees
This is also an exercise most of us are familiar with. The goal is to get your knees high (probably obvious to most of us), but it’s ok for them to start low. The more you do this exercise, the higher they’ll get, but you need time to build your hip flexers if you’re just starting out with these. Try to challenge yourself to get a bit higher each time. It also helps to pump your arms to help drive the movement. Speed and height are the name of the game here.
Exercise 3: Burpees
I know, I know, burpees??? Yes. There are lots of ways to modify them to make them accessible and they offer a ton of total body benefits and cardio benefits. The goals are to be as explosive as possible in your movement without injury, so start easy and then increase intensity throughout the set. Just like with jumping jacks, you want to land softly and try not to pause between reps. Keep moving, and remember that you can do anything for 30-60 seconds.
Exercise 4: Mountain Climbers
This one can be done from a full plank or angled against a wall, bed, or counter. You can also start slowly and increase the speed as you get stronger. You’ll want your hands directly under your shoulders for this. Keep your core engaged and your back as straight as possible. It’s tempting to let your hips creep toward the sky, but try to keep them low. From here, you’ll drive one knee towards you chest, then switch in a running motion. The faster your pace, the bigger your benefits.
Exercise 5: Skaters
I love these because they make me feel graceful and they develop vital lateral stability (strength in side-to-side motion). You start with feet shoulder width apart, then jump to the right, landing on your right foot, landing with your left foot behind you and your left arm swinging across your body (think speed skaters in the Olympics). Then you quickly jump to the left, mirroring the motion. Try not to rest when you land, immediately jump back to the other side and go as quickly as you can without losing balance or form.
NEVER SACRIFICE FORM FOR SPEED.
Cool Down: Finish your cardio micro workout with a few minutes of walking place or slow jogging or light bouncing to gradually lower your heart rate. Make sure to follow up with some quick, gentle stretches to prevent muscle tightness and improve mobility.
Conclusion
A lot of us are tired, struggle to be consistent, and are straight up busy. But fitness and movement are an essential aspect of longevity and happiness. You don’t have to run a marathon to reap the benefits of a non-sedentary life. You don’t have to be an “athlete” (though, absolutely pursue an athletic life if it brings you joy).
Micro workouts are accessible for busy/tired people and are easier to maintain as a schedule than traditional workouts. They offer a lot of the same benefits as traditional workouts in terms of health and you can customize them easily to fit your goals and personal preferences.
What are your favorite exercises? How would you include them in a micro workout? Let me know in the comments!