If you have a busy life, and most people do, you know that it can be hard to find time to exercise. The demands of children, work, or school can keep you from sticking to your goal to burn fat.

Many people opt to do shorter workouts throughout the day, such as doing three or four ten minute sessions instead of one long one. Does this work?

But wait. If your body needs about twenty minutes of activity before it kicks into fat burning mode, will short workouts even do anything? If you need to burn fat and don’t have a lot of time, what do you do?

If you spend the same amount of time on your short workouts as you would on one long ones, the American Heart Association says that you will get the same benefits.

So, if you are doing four ten minute sessions, you’re body is getting the benefit equal to one forty minute session. The AHA also found that vigorous exercise is much more effective than moderately paced movement.

If you are going to try short workouts, they need to be difficult in order to burn fat. The following tips can help you challenge your body:

1. Run for ten minutes.

For ten minutes, run faster than you normally do. Walkers, walk more briskly. Make sure to get your heart going.

2. Do a gym machine for ten minutes.

While going to the gym four times a day doesn’t make much sense, if you are there anyway, chose a machine and go full throttle for ten minutes.

3. Use the stairs. Or a hill.

Run up some stairs or a steep hill. Walk down and repeat. Do this for ten minutes to burn fat.

4. Have flashbacks to phys ed with jumping jacks.

5. Try jumping rope.

Any movement is a potential mini workout. The key is to make sure it is intense enough so your body works and so you burn fat. Adding some weights to your routine also helps.

Don’t let your body get bored; if you do, it is harder to burn fat. Do a few minutes of light walking to warm up, and then do some of the moves below:

* Squats: these are the moves to get the most out of your workout. They are very effective.

* Pushups

* Bicep curls

* Lunges

* Squats. Squats are one of the most effective moves to tone your lower body.

For great results and a great workout, do several repetitions of each. You can also combine the moves, called compound moves. These work more than one muscle group and include chest presses combined with lunges or overhead presses done with squats.

It is also important to warm up and cool down. They don’t have to be extensive, simply walking briskly for a few minutes is sufficient for warming up, and moving a more slowly is fine for cooling down. Stretching before and after you exercise also helps loosen your muscles and prevent injury.

Exercise only works if you do it. Fitting in four or so ten minute workouts a day is effective. You will get in shape, burn fat, and have time to spare!

Working out for shorter periods of time can also be much more motivating and can help you stick with your exercise program.

You may have a hard time getting yourself to do a forty minute workout, but you can always do ten, right?

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