One of my preferred ways of working out is by doing 10 minute workouts.

They're quick, intense and leave me huffing and puffing long after the 10 minutes is complete.

But I'm a personal trainer and already in good shape, so are they effective for the everyday person looking for fat loss? Can you really do a 10 minute workout and expect to lose fat?

My answer to that is a resounding YES!

If you are someone who says they really don't have that much time to workout and that's what's keeping you from losing the weight you've put on, then 10 minute workouts are definitely for you.

Or, if you know you have a busy week coming up and are worried that your regular workouts are going to have to be put on hold, then 10 minute workouts are also for you.

The most important thing to remember when doing 10 minute workouts is that you need to throw out the time wasting exercises like bicep curls, triceps kickbacks and crunches and stick to exercises that work your entire body or at least a good portion of it.

I'll give you an example of what I did earlier today. I had a very busy that was packed full of clients, however I had a 30 minute window where I needed to get a few things accomplished, one of them being my workout.

So here's what I did after my quick warm-up:

1) 1-Arm Dumbbell Swing supersetted with 1-leg Decline Push-ups

2) Dumbbell Squat w/Shoulder Press supersetted with Dumbbell Bent-Over Rows

I did each of those supersets for 5 minutes completing as many sets of 10 as I could. After I was done with 1 set of the first superset, I would rest for 20 seconds and repeat.

Then, when 5 minutes was up, I went on to the second superset and did it in the same fashion.

By the time that 10 minutes was up I was huffing and puffing, and my heart rate stayed elevated for a while. I still felt pumped up for quite a while into my next training session.

So give that workout a try, or come up with your own. Just make sure that you pick exercises that use a lot of muscle groups like push-ups, squats, lunges, rows, etc. and stay away from crunches and isolation exercises.

Copyright (c) 2008 Ed Scow