You don’t need to slog and sweat for hours every single day to enjoy the health benefits of exercise. Start small, but start. (Photo: Meghan Holmes via Unsplash)

With the festival, wedding and party season well and truly under way, your health and fitness regimen is most likely going to suffer serious setbacks. However, there is hope as new research shows that even short workouts and doing chores that involve physical movement contribute to maintaining and improving your fitness. All you need is to find anything between 5 and 15 minutes.

A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that just one eccentric bicep curl performed over 3 seconds for five days a week for four weeks led to a 7.8 per cent increase in muscle strength. The study, explained in detail in this piece on Moneycontrol’s #FitnessPlanner, also found that just one eccentric bicep contraction a day for at least three days a week was the minimum commitment required “to be effective for increasing muscle strength, and more frequent sessions in a week appear to induce greater increases in muscle strength.”  What this study demonstrates is you don’t need to slog and sweat for hours every single day to enjoy the health benefits of exercise. All you need to do is commit 5 to 10 minutes, three to five times a week, to gentle exercises over the next three months to start noticing the positive impact. “Incorporating short workout sessions of 5 to 10 minutes can have a significant positive impact on people’s health and fitness,” said Spoorthi S, a Cult.fit fitness expert.

Short workout sessions are the perfect solution for people who aren’t already leading an active lifestyle as well as those on the edge thinking of taking up exercise but aren’t doing so, says Abraar Khan Waryah, co-founder and head coach of Gridiron Fitness Studio in Kolkata. “Short workouts are a great way to start especially for those who aren’t already active, for those who are returning from an injury and also for those who are just starting out. Small steps are a good way to start out on your health and fitness journey and they can help in making exercise a part of your regular life,” said Waryah.

Short exercise sessions can be even more vital and life-changing for those who lead sedentary lives and get no exercise at all. “Anything is better than nothing,” said Spoorthi. “In the realm of physical activity, the ‘all or nothing’ attitude can often stifle progress. Short workout routines address this issue by offering a feasible solution for individuals who struggle with time constraints or lack motivation. Short workout routines are an excellent entry point for individuals who are new to exercise. Starting with a short session helps build the habit of regular physical activity, without overwhelming beginners with the demands of longer workouts.”

There is plenty of research out there which consistently shows that brief bouts of exercise can contribute to overall health and fitness by elevating the heart rate, improving blood circulation and boosting metabolism, say doctors and fitness coaches. Moreover, short workout routines make it easier to maintain consistency given our modern day busy lives. Since short exercise routines require minimal time commitment, individuals are more likely to stick to them, gradually building a sustainable habit. Short workouts offer a multitude of advantages, spanning health, fitness, and habit formation. What makes short sessions effective is the fact that they are a perfect fit for busy schedules, enabling individuals to overcome time limitations and integrate exercise effortlessly. “The gains, though brief, accumulate throughout the day, boosting metabolism and energy expenditure. This compounding effect supports weight management and overall fitness,” said Spoorthi.

While the effectiveness of short workout routines cannot be underestimated, they cannot be a substitute for proper, full-scale workout routine entirely. The primary role of short workouts is in promoting a more active lifestyle and fostering positive changes in overall wellbeing, notes Spoorthi. “As far as habit formation and getting someone to adopt a healthy lifestyle are concerned, short workouts are fantastic but if your goal is to become fit and see visible physical changes in yourself then these workouts do not help. They are not enough for fitness goals. Getting fit and improving one’s fitness needs time… plenty of it,” warned Waryah.

Short workouts have limitations, particularly when it comes to achieving specific fitness goals. “One notable shortcoming is their inefficiency in pursuing certain objectives, such as weight gain or muscle mass development. These quick sessions typically focus on cardiovascular health, energy expenditure, and mood enhancement,” explained Spoorthi. For individuals who want to build muscle mass, short workouts cannot provide the necessary stimulus for muscle hypertrophy. Building significant muscle mass typically demands longer and more targeted resistance training sessions that progressively challenge muscle groups. For those targeting weight loss, more extended, focused workouts incorporating aerobic exercises, strength training, and proper dietary adjustments are typically more effective, said Spoorthi.

You might not get the flat abs, lean muscles or your ideal figure with short workouts but what they will certainly do is put your firmly on the path to affecting change and adopting an active life full of exercise, better health and more energy.

Short workouts for you to start

The workouts are brief and and suitable for those who might not have worked out before. It’s best to do some arm, hip, neck, wrist and shoulder rotations and leg swings before attempting any of these workouts Also, if you aren’t familiar with the form, please consult an expert or check credible YouTube videos. Always consult a doctor before starting any exercise routine.