I know that our audience is typically split on this subject, but I personally really like the ten minute workouts. They can be mixed and matched to create hundreds of options that you can build into your own custom routine. Put 2-3 of the videos of your choice together, add a warm up and cool down and you've just built your own smart 30-40 minute workout plan. 

Or, on the other hand - you could just do those 10 minutes as your whole workout that day (still adding on both warm up and cool down). Ten minutes is so much better than zero minutes when it comes to smart, targeted, focused training. 

I think it also helps break up with the "all or nothing" mentally which can be so damaging to the goal of becoming healthy - or making progress towards any goal for that matter. Sometimes it really comes down to those little things that you do, nearly every day. No grand gesture or extreme, awe-inspiring lift. Just another inch towards where you want to be, day in and day out. Showing up for yourself in small ways, over and over again. 

One good way to think of it, especially if recently you feel as though you've fallen out of the habit of working out, is to consider how much different you might feel right now if you had been doing just 10 minutes, 5 days a week, for the last 3 months. Would that be more or less than the goal that you have set for yourself recently? And, next question; have you been hitting that goal recently, or would the seemingly meager amount of 10 minutes a day, most days of the week, be more time than you have literally put directly towards that goal? 

I think small goals are a great option if you're struggling with motivation. It may sound weird but maybe try setting the bar low - you're more likely to hit that goal, and that feeling is more likely to propel you forward. When you have moved around for 10 minutes, you're going to have changed your physiology and mental state, and you're going to be more likely to want to keep moving, maybe even finishing a good 30-40 minute workout.

Related: How to get started and make a fitness habit stick + 10 of our favorite beginner workouts

Consider the same analogy for learning a language. Think of how quickly you might be able to hold simple conversations in another language, if you put 10 minutes a day to studying and exploring that language. You can see how it would eventually add up beautifully, and all without the individual feeling hard pressed or like they were following a rigorous, tiresome routine that they may ultimately grow to find tiresome and too hard to stick to, maybe abandoning the goal all-together; sounds a lot like New Years Resolutions, or the diet cycle in general, right? Make a lofty goal. Push and punish oneself towards that goal. Tire of it's demands, it's restrictions and it's demanding nature, and then decide to let it go all together.

Long story short; small goals can pay off in the end, and it might be a refreshing strategy if you find yourself in a lofty goal - crash and burn cycle. 

Anyways, now that I've given you a lecture on motivation and goal setting that you really didn't ask for, let's get to the lifting!

Workout Structure
A combination of traditional upper body strength exercises with a slight twist on each. Some will place demand on balance and bodily control, and others will pull in full body movement to challenge coordination. A person can easily make this workout more purely-strength focused (if desired) by cutting out the balance challenging modifications for a fully grounded stance more suitable for heavy lifting. There is no warm up or cool down; both are recommended. 

Printable Upper Body Workout: 45 Seconds Active, 15 Seconds Active Rest
Curl + Captain Morgan 
Dumbbell Drop + Step
Tricep Extension + Halo 
Lateral Raises 
Ventral Raises
Bentover Fly
Press + Captain Morgan
Wood Choppers
Arm Circles
Press + Extension

20 Question time: Which was your favorite strength interval? Were your upper body muscles starting to talk to you by the time the ten minutes was up? And, if we disagreed before, does the note above change your mind at all towards goal setting styles and the benefit of 10 minute workouts in your routine? Did you like the blog/article/subject-tackling theme of this workout write up? Let me know if you'd like to see more like it. Talk to me; I'm always open to your feedback & I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Thanks for working out with me!

Kelli