This 10-Minute Workout Guide Is the No-Excuses Plan You Need

Book cover image courtesy Rodale Books.

I don’t have to think back very far to remember a morning when I woke up, checked the time, and determined nope, not enough time for a workout. Of course, I’m going off the assumption that I need at least 30 minutes for exercise. I mean, what’s even the point of working out for less than that?

Well, according to a new book, Fit in 10: Slim and Strong — for Life! there’s actually lot to be said for working out just ten minutes a day. The book, which was written by Prevention magazine fitness director Jenna Bergen Southerland (who, full disclosure, is the founding editor of Be Well Philly), preaches the science-backed reasons  just ten minutes of exercise can change your body.

If you think this sounds too good to be true, you’re not alone. When Southerland first hatched the concept, she presented it to other busy women who, like her, just didn’t have the time to spend hours slaving away in the gym. Their responses? “‘I don’t know if it’s going to actually work, but I’m so desperate right now for something that’s actually doable that I’m willing to try it,'” says Southerland.

Southerland tested the program — which includes a series of ten-minute strength training workouts and ten-minute healthy recipes — on 15 women who committed to it for 60 days. By the end, those women had shed pounds, shed inches, and shed any doubt that they had time to work out.

Southerland says she was inspired to create the program after realizing that even she, the fitness director of a health magazine, didn’t have time to do it all. As a fitness editor, Southerland was particularly aware of how many experts kept telling her that strength training was important, and yet she couldn’t get around to it.

“I would do the occasional boot camp class, but I really was a yogi and into running and cycling. The busier I got at work, the harder it was to do all of that,” says Southerland. “I really wanted to make strength training as easy and fun as possible.”

And by making the workouts easy, fun, and most importantly, short, Southerland says that Fit in 10 really helps to “get rid of your ‘all or nothing’ mentality.” 

“So many times, you’re like, Okay, I don’t have time for an hour-long workout, or I don’t have time for a 30-minute workout, so what do you do? You do nothing,” says Southerland. “Whereas, you definitely have time for ten minutes. And if you’re doing that multiple times throughout the week, it really adds up.” 

The book doesn’t preach that you can work out for ten minutes and call it a day, however. As the saying goes, “abs are made in the kitchen,” and that’s why the nutrition component of Fit in 10 is just as important as the workouts.

“You really cannot out-train a bad diet,” says Southerland. 

From blueberry muffin parfaits to lasagna to steak tacos, the recipes aren’t what we’d consider “diet” food. Rather, they’re real, whole, clean foods that make up the super quick recipes.

If you’ve been struggling with motivation to work out — or with finding time to work out — Fit in 10 could provide a solution. The paperback book is now for sale on Amazon. Find your copy here.

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