Get In Shape, Drop Pounds, and Reduce Your Stress -Exercise 10 Minutes A Day

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I have found that doing quick intense workouts really have made a difference when it comes to my stress levels.  Studies have shown that doing quick workouts that are intense for short durations of time to lower stress are even more effective than working out for an hour. While regular exercise can be wonderfully effective for building resilience, even a little exercise can go a long way toward stress relief.

The key to burning calories during short workouts is to crank up the intensity and work harder than usual. This means increasing your Perceived Exertion to between 5-9. To burn more calories shoot for 10 minutes a day of:

 •Running - You don't have to sprint, but try to run faster than normal

•Speedwalking - Walk as fast as you can without breaking into a run. It's harder than you think!

•Walking the stairs - Run or walk up a flight (or more) and recover by slowly walking back down

•Hill-walking - Find a medium-sized hill and walk or run up as fast as you can. Recover with a slow walk back down and repeat

•Any gym machine - hop on any cardio machine for a 10-minute blast. Try something different--the Versaclimber and the rowing machine are two tough ones.

Another option is to put together a variety of moves for an intense workout. The moves below are great ways to get your heart rate up in a very short period of time. Turn on the radio and mix and match them (30-seconds to 1 minute or more each) into a workout that fits your fitness level and schedule.

•Jumping jacks

•Jogging in place - lift your knees and pump your arms to get your heart rate up

•Plyometric lunges - Begin in a basic lunge position. In an explosive movement, jump, switch legs in the air and land with bent knees into lunge

•Ski hops - with feet together, jump from side to side, landing with knees bent. The wider you jump and the lower you squat into the jump, the harder you'll work

•Jump rope

•Skipping - Trust me, you might feel silly, but it's much harder than you remember

•Step jumps - Stand in front of step or platform and jump onto it, landing with both feet (harder) or a staggered landing. Step down and repeat

•Squat hops - Stand with feet wide. Lower into a squat and hop forward 4 times, keeping feet wide, legs bent into squat. Walk back and repeat

•Dancing around the house and singing into a fake microphone

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