Ten-Minute Workouts

Adults should do some moderate-intensity exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, five days a week, according to Sir Liam Donaldson, the government’s chief medical officer.

Physical activity is strongly related to health. Exercise provides a wide range of benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, maintenance of mobility, control of body weight and increased mental wellbeing.

For many of us, though, finding the time to fit exercise into a busy schedule isn’t easy. But if you find it impossible to spare 30 minutes a day for a workout, don’t give up. You can achieve your daily quota by doing three shorter bursts of exercise lasting 10 minutes or more.

You'll know you're doing enough to benefit your health and burn up calories if, when you exercise, you feel warmer than usual, your breathing is quicker than normal and your heart rate is slightly raised.

Use the handy calorie counter at the Food Standard Agency's Eatwell site (see Useful links) to find out just how many calories an activity will burn up. But keep in mind that the amount of calories burned will depend on your weight, gender and other factors, so use it as a guide only.

Here are some ways to fit more activity into your day.

Love your garden

Weeding, digging and mowing your garden all count as moderate-activity exercise if your pulse is slightly raised and you feel warm while doing them. Gardening for 10 minutes will burn 53 calories.

Play with the kids

“Go bike riding, play football or use a trampoline,” says Professor Ken Fox from Bristol University’s exercise, nutrition and health sciences department. Finding time every weekend to do something active with your kids helps to keep the whole family fit. Professor Fox is also a fan of gardening and suggests you plant a vegetable patch with your children. This can keep all of you active and teach your kids about fresh, healthy food.

Skip yourself fit

Skipping is good for the heart, bones, flexibility and co-ordination. It’s also inexpensive: all you need is a skipping rope, a good pair of trainers and a safe space. Depending on the intensity of your workout, skipping will typically burn between 70 and 110 calories in a 10-minute session.

Swap the sofa for cycling

If you don’t fancy braving the gym or the traffic, why not set up a stationary bike in front of your TV? Pedal away in front of your favourite shows and before you know it you’ll have done 10 minutes. This works just as well if you prefer using a treadmill. Ten minutes of moderate cycling will burn around 62 calories, and the same time on the treadmill will burn 97 calories.

Take the stairs

You’d be amazed how many staircases you can climb during the day. Choosing to use stairs rather than a lift can help you burn calories as well as tone up your legs and bum. Climbing the stairs burns around twice as many calories as walking, and 10 minutes of taking the stairs adds up to around 70 calories burned.

Get walking

Taking a brisk walk is one of the easiest ways to fit a bit of exercise into your day. Stride around the block in your lunch hour, walk the kids to school or take the dog for a walk. The Department of Health recommends that you aim to walk 10,000 steps a day. For tips on how easy this can be, watch our video, in which office worker Kate tries to achieve her 10,000 steps (see Useful links). A pedometer can help you to keep track of how many steps you do. You can burn 35 calories in 10 minutes of brisk walking.

Dance the night away

Dancing, whether at a class or home alone with your headphones on, is great fun and good exercise. If you enjoy what you’re doing you’re more likely to stick with it and exceed your 10-minute target. If you join a class, you’ll find exercising with other people a great way to keep motivated. Ten minutes of aerobic dancing burns around 65 calories. To find classes near you visit DanceWeb (see Useful links).

Workout at work

Sitting at a desk all day is a sure way to pile on the pounds. But there are ways to fit a bit of exercise into your office life.

• Walk over to a colleague with a message, rather than emailing them.
• Take the stairs, not the lift.
• Use the bathroom on the floor above.
• Use a hands-free phone so you can walk and talk.
• Book a walking meeting with colleagues and brainstorm as you pound the pavement.

Any one of these activities can help you to burn 35 calories in 10 minutes.

Park and walk

If you have to drive to your appointment, you don’t have to miss out on exercise altogether. When you park, leave the car as far away as practical from your destination and walk the rest of the way. If you’re shopping, leave your car in the space furthest from the shops, and you’ll benefit from the added bonus of carrying your bags back to the car park.

Again you'll burn around 35 calories for every 10 minutes of brisk walking, and even more if you're carrying heavy bags at the same time.

Clean up on calories

Heavy-duty housework might not be fun, but it has to be done and it can really get your heart pumping. Scrubbing, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming can count as moderate exercise. In 10 minutes of energetic dusting, you could burn around 33 calories, while 10 minutes of ironing uses up 15 calories.

All quoted rates of calorie burning will depend on your weight and gender.