Micro workouts are one of the newest fitness trends. Whether you are working full time, a stay at home mom, an entrepreneur, or just have a busy schedule, you might want to consider adding micro workouts throughout your day. 

Fitness influencers are constantly showing how they are at the gym working out for hours a day. That’s not always possible when you are working or carting around kids to different activities. It can be hard to fit exercise into our schedules, much less just necessary me time. 

What are micro workouts?

Micro workouts are a fitness routine where you are able to do full body workouts in ten minutes or less a couple times throughout the day. This could be performing short bursts of resistance training multiple times a day or going for ten minute walks multiple times a day. It doesn’t always have to be full body workouts either. You can focus on one muscle group for every ten minute session. 

Are micro workouts throughout the day effective?

Micro workouts throughout the day are just as effective as one long workout. Studies have found that workouts that are about 10 minutes with short bursts of intense exercise have similar benefits to a moderately paced 45 minute workout. 

In general, movement is movement. If your schedule is consistently busy, and it is easier to find 2-3 ten minute blocks to add in some exercise, then that is great. It counts towards the recommended minutes of exercise per week (75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise or 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise). 

Just remember, the only bad workout is the one that never happened. 

What are the benefits of micro workouts?

Micro workouts can have similar if not better benefits than long workouts. Productive wise, you are more likely to get more intensity in your exercises since it is only for about 10 minutes. You are more likely to take more frequent breaks throughout a long workout. 

Health wise, here are some benefits:

• Better heart health
• Leads to stronger muscles
• Leads to weight loss
• Increases endurance
• Better insulin absorption in the body

Mental health wise, you will feel more dopamine hits, which is the happy hormone. Doing micro workouts throughout the day will cause you to feel more happy and will help you enjoy the day even more. 

If you run on the more anxious/depressive side, consider doing 10 minute workouts a couple times a day to boost your mood. 

The ten minute sessions will also help to avoid boredom and resistance to working out. When you have a long workout to get to, you may feel dread. Short workouts will help you avoid that feeling because it’s only ten minutes. Might keep you more motivated. 

Is it better to do small workouts throughout the day or one big one?

In general, it’s best to exercise daily, whether it is one big workout or a few small ones. When it comes to building muscle or losing weight, it won’t make the biggest difference. 

If you are getting really technical, you are more likely to lose weight doing shorter, more intense exercises a few times a day. If you do high intensity interval training during your short workout, this will boost your metabolism and burn more calories even after the workout. & then a few hours later, when you do another session of that, your metabolism will continue to be boosted and you will keep burning more calories.

Can you build muscle with micro workouts?

You can absolutely build muscle with micro workouts. Just because you aren’t doing the exercises all at once doesn’t mean they won’t be as effective. 

As long as you are intentional about your 10 minute workouts and are constantly progressing your reps or resistance you will build muscle. Remember to fuel up on protein after your workouts so that your muscles have what they need to recover and grow. 

Is 3 10-minute walks as good as 1 30-minute walk?

When it comes to walking, it is better if it is done frequently throughout the day. If you are sedentary 8 hours of the day and then walk at the end of the day for 30 minutes that’s good, but it’s not as good as getting up a few times a day to walk. 

Being sedentary for long periods of time can lead to heart disease, obesity, and other problems. Try to create a routine of getting up to walk throughout the day if you are very sedentary. 

Vigorous intensity exercise

The CDC recommends that we get 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. If we are doing micro workouts and go based on that recommendation, then we should be doing 7-8 ten minute micro workouts a week. 

It’s hard to determine what vigorous intensity exercise is, especially when you are going at your own pace. 

A good way to measure if you are doing vigorous exercises is if you can’t say more than a couple words without taking a break to catch your breath.

Here are some examples of vigorous intensity exercises:

• Running
• Incline walking
• Jump rope
• Jumping jacks
• Burpees
• Pushups
• High knees
• Plank jacks
• Swimming consistently
• Cycling at high speed or with incline

Moderate intensity exercise

The CDC recommends that we get 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week. That means that we would have to do 15 ten minute micro workouts a week. This sounds like a lot but it is basically only 2 sessions a day and one day having 3. For example, you could do a ten minute session in the morning and in the afternoon and be done for the day, which is really only 20 minutes of your time. On the day that you have to do three, you could do a ten minute session in the morning, afternoon, and evening, which would only be 30 minutes of your time. 

Just think of the time you waste going on your phone or watching a tenth episode of that show. Instead take that time to go for a ten minute walk or find a ten minute strength training video. 

*Tip: do a 10 minute workout while watching tv. Win win situation if you ask me!

The 15 different sessions are also nice because you can choose a muscle group to work on for ten minutes and then the next session you move onto a different muscle group and so on. 

A good way to measure if you are doing moderate intensity is if you can talk comfortably. 

Here are some examples of moderate intensity exercises:

• Walking
• Body weight squats
• Crunches
• Low weight dumbbell exercises (bicep curls, tricep extensions, shoulder press, etc.)
• Glute bridges
• Cycling at comfortable pace with little to no hills

*Remember, if you choose to do vigorous exercise that is 75 minutes and if you choose to do moderate exercise that is 150 minutes. You do not have to do both. I would either choose one or the other or alternate moderate and vigorous sessions. 

What happens if you workout everyday without rest?

Working out everyday without rest will eventually lead to burnout, injuries, or less growth in the muscles. 

Rest is crucial for the recovery and GROWTH of your muscles. You will see more results when you give yourself a rest day. In general, you should give your muscles 48 hours of rest before working them out again. 

That’s why people tend to split up their workouts into different muscle groups. For example, they might have a back and biceps day, a chest, triceps, and shoulder day, and a leg/booty day. That way, they can still work out everyday and still be giving their muscles the proper rest they need to grow. 

Always give your body rest. 

How much exercise per day is too much?

While there are no recommendations for the maximum number of minutes you should exercise per day, you have to listen to your body. If you already exercised a good amount and you are feeling tired and fatigued, you should not exercise for the rest of the day. It is easy to become obsessed with exercising, since it gives off endorphins and dopamine, however it isn’t healthy if you are doing it too much. You could eventually run into problems with your body, which could be injuries, menstruation problems, or other health-related issues. Remember, rest is important!!

Conclusion

Exercise doesn’t have to be drawn out and long. As long as you are reaching the recommended number of minutes of exercise a week, you are doing great. 

If you are new to exercising, start out with ten minute sessions three times a week. There is no need to go above and beyond your first week of training, doing 15 sessions of moderate exercise. That will just lead to burn out and you not wanting to do it anymore.  Work your way up to that point.

You are doing amazing!

Email alexiisskin@gmail,com and let us know if you like doing micro workouts!