Not all of us have the time to get in that big workout of the day. A lot of our energy is drained either at work, mentally exhausted at around the holidays, paying bills, getting kids ready or whatever; life can throw you little curveballs that you don't see coming. I have found that if you don't have the time you need, why not use the time you do have. Small workouts may not seem that difficult but they can be huge time savers; plus, with the intensity you put into it, they can keep you in good shape.
I've done workouts that lasted 30 seconds to 3 hours and quite a number of them had me resting for an extended period of time. These days, I want to keep my workouts to a minimum so I have more to do with rest of my day. We may not always get a bunch of workouts in but 2-3 that last no more than 5-10 minutes seems doable don't you think? Better yet, why not keep the exercises to a minimum as well and this is where the real fun comes in. Supersets in a nutshell are 2 exercises back to back so, if you keep going back and forth for several minutes, think about how much you're really accomplishing.
Small workouts throughout the day can help keep your energy levels up and give you stamina that also leads to better functioning of the brain by staying mentally prepared for certain tasks or keeping that endorphin high going. With great intensity, it'll feel like more like a sprint than a marathon and the objective is to keep going non stop without a break throughout the allotted time you put in. Here are a few workouts I've done recently (Many done with Step-Ups) that can get you huffing and puffing fast....
10 Step Ups
10 Ab Wheel Rollouts
5-10 minutes non stop
25 Hindu Squats
10 Hindu Push-ups
15 min As Many Times As you Can With Little To No Rest
10 Step Ups
10 Yard Bear Crawl
10 min non stop
10 KB Deadlifts
5 Slam Ball Slams
5 min. non stop
10 Step Ups
5 Burpees
5 min non stop
10 Step Ups
10 Mountain Climbers
5 min Non Stop
Just a few to mention but you can supplement step ups with squats, mix and match various exercises that you can do fast, use weights, kettlebells, bodyweight. You can do Upper Body & Lower Body Exercises together, same muscle groups, opposing muscle groups for even steven or do jumping type exercises it is your choice.
The key is intensity, you also don't want to have sloppy form or you can hurt yourself, do movements that you can use solid form and doesn't cause injury and focus on the task at hand. It takes getting use to doing things non stop because normally we're use to doing exercises and resting between sets but for some people, you don't want to be doing exercises for too long and want to get the most out of it. 10-20 reps of an exercise may not seem much but the more sets you do frequently without resting, will get tougher and this is where you mental toughness comes in.
If you can't do 5-10 minutes non stop yet, start with one minute and build up. If you want to really get your conditioning cooking, do circuits of 3 or more exercises and see how far you can go in a certain time frame. Most of my circuit workouts don't last more than 30 minutes and try to keep it under 45 minutes for a full workout where my rest time between circuits is basically marking off and returning within a few seconds. My goal is to hit 7-10 rounds of a circuit as fast as I can without compromising form and fatigue. I want to have some gas left in the tank.
For the most part about this, microworkouts are fantastic for getting that small window of time in and getting the job done quick without overloading your frame of time. Kids are down for a nap? Hit up a superset, got a few minutes before heading out of your hotel, do a superset of squats and push-ups for a few non stop. These can amplify your cardio big time and develop that lung power that can last you for extended periods of time. Make it work for you.
