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Why 10-Minute Workouts Count More Than You Think · FitMitTuro Fitness Podcast

• 1:10
  Turo Virta: Most people don't skip workouts because they don't care, they skip because the workout in their head feels too big. You think I don't have 45 minutes today, I can't do my full workout, I'm too tired to train properly, I will just do it tomorrow, or I will restart on Monday, and then nothing happens, not because you are lazy, not because you don't want it, but you only count the perfect version, the full workout, the long workout, the hard workout, the sweaty workout, and the one where everything goes according to plan, but real life doesn't work like that. Some days you have time, some days you don't, some days you have energy, and some days you will feel tired before you even start. Some days your kids need you, some days work takes longer some days, your body feels stiff, and some days your mind says just not today.
• 2:14
  Turo Virta: And if your only option is a perfect workout or no workout, most of the time you will choose no workout. So today I want to give you a different idea. You don't need a perfect workout.
• 2:27
  Turo Virta: You need a minimum workout, a small version, a short version, a version you can do on your worst days. Because 10 minute workout is not a failed workout, it's a kept promise, and kept promises build self trust. Today I'm going to give you a simple framework called Mini. M stands for Make It Sort, I is for identity rep, N is no zero days, and I is improve later. If you keep skipping workouts because you don't have enough time, energy, or motivation. This episode is for you. So, let's get into it. So, let's start with the problem, because most people have a very strict idea of work of what a workout should look like. You might think that workout should be 45 minutes or longer. A full program, warm-up strength, cardio, core, stretching, perfect exercises, perfect sits and reps, done in the gym, done with the good energy, done when you are feeling motivated, and of course, there is nothing wrong with that with the proper workout. I love a good strength training session. I love well-written program. I love progressive overload and seeing results. I love seeing people get stronger, but here is the problem: if you only allow the perfect workout to count, you will miss too many chances to stay consistent, because life will not always give you perfect conditions, and this is where people fall into all or nothing thinking. People are saying, if I can't do the full workout, what's the point, but that question is the problem, because the point is not always to get the perfect training effect.
• 4:31
  Turo Virta: Sometimes the point is to keep the habit alive. Sometimes the point is to remind yourself I am still someone who shows up.
• 4:41
  Turo Virta: Sometimes the point is to stop one missed workout from running into one missed week. This is where the minimum workout comes in. A minimum workout is not your best workout. It is not your hardest workout. It is not meant to replace your full workouts forever. It is your backup plan. It is the workout that keeps you in the game when life gets messy, and most people don't have that. They have a best day plan, but they don't have a real life plan. A best day plan works when you slept well, you have time, you have energy, everything is calm, you feel motivated. A real life plan also works when you are busy, you are tired, you are stressed, you only have 10 minutes, you don't feel like doing anything.
• 5:36
  Turo Virta: And if your fitness plan only works on perfect days, it's not a plan, it's a fantasy. And I don't want you to build fantasy fitness. I want you to build real life fitness, the kind that survives normal weeks. So now some people hear 10 minute workout and think that's not enough, and I understand that if your goal is to build muscle, get strong. Or improve your fitness, health, change your body. Of course, you need enough training over time. A few minutes once in a while will not do everything, but that's not the point of a minimum workout.
• 6:17
  Turo Virta: The minimum workout is not there to replace all training, it is there to protect consistency.
• 6:28
  Turo Virta: Let's say you planned 45 minute workout, but today gets crazy.
• 6:33
  Turo Virta: Now you only have 10 minutes.
• 6:33
  Turo Virta: You have two options. Option one, you do nothing. You say I will do it tomorrow. Option two is that you do 10 minutes, maybe you do a couple of squats, push ups, plank, little mobility, and now did the 10 give 10 minutes give you the same effect as a full workout? Absolutely not.
• 6:56
  Turo Virta: But did it give you something?
• 6:56
  Turo Virta: Absolutely, yes. Because you moved, you kept the promise you made to yourself, you protected the habit, you reminded yourself who you are becoming, and that matters, because many people don't fail because of one missed workout. They fail because of what happens after the missed workout. One missed workout becomes I already failed. Then you will say to yourself that I will restart on next week, then I'm bad at consistency, and then the identity gets weaker. The minimum workout interrupts that.
• 7:34
  Turo Virta: It says that no, I didn't do the perfect workout, but I still showed up, and that sentence is powerful. I still showed up.
• 7:44
  Turo Virta: That's how self-trust is built, not from doing perfect things, from keeping small promises.
• 7:55
  Turo Virta: Think about brushing your teeth.
• 7:55
  Turo Virta: You don't brush your teeth for two hours once a week. You do a small thing often, and you don't ask, "Was this tooth brushing system perfect? You do it because it's part of taking care of yourself. Training can become more like that, not always big, not always intense, but regular, reliable, a part who you are, and that starts with minimum workouts. So now let's make this practical. If you want to stop skipping workouts, I want you to use the mini framework N make it sort, I stands for identity rep, N is no zero days, and I is improved later. Let's go through each part, so the first step is make it sort. This sounds almost too simple, but it's powerful, because the biggest barrier is often starting, not finishing, starting, putting on the shoes, rolling out the mat, opening the app, going downstairs, or your basement, or wherever you do the workout, picking up the dumbbells or pants, and that first step often feels heavier than the workout itself. So, your job is to lower the starting resistance, and one of the best ways to do that is to make the workout short instead of saying I need to train for 45 minutes say I only need to do 10 minutes instead of saying I need to finish the whole program say I only need to do the first round instead of saying I need to go to gym, say I can do a short workout at home. This is not weakness, this is strategy, because starting small creates momentum. Often after 10 minutes you might feel better, you might continue, you might finish more than you expected, but even if you stop after 10 minutes, you still won, because the goal of the minimum workout is not maximum performance. The goal is to keep the habit alive, and here is an example of 10 minute full body workout. Set the timer for 10 minutes, and you could be doing 10 squats, incline push ups, some kind of row movement, and planks. Repeat until 10 minutes is over, and that's it.
• 10:47
  Turo Virta: You don't need perfect setup or full gym session, just movement.
• 10:53
  Turo Virta: So, another option is simply go for 10 minutes of walking or 10 minutes of mobility, so, or if you have planned your workouts, do instead of two. Three or four sets, you just do one set of each exercise, and like what I use, my eye, my minimum workout is in my app. I have built my plan, is my minimum workout is 10 sets two times per week, and that is my minimum week. So here it don't need to be perfect, but the key is that it must feel doable even on a bad days and weeks, so because the minimum workout is the one what you can actually do, not the one that looks good on the paper, so ask yourself, what is the shortest workout I would still be willing to do on a busy day, and that is your minimum. So, the second step is identity rep, and this is the deeper part. A minimum workout is not only physical, it's mental, it's identity training. Every time you do a minimum workout, you are telling yourself, I am someone who shows up, and I don't disappear when life gets busy. I keep small promises, I can be consistent even when it's not perfect, and that is powerful, because many, many people have the opposite identity. People are saying, I always start and stop, I never stick to anything, I'm bad at routines, I always fail and then every missed workout becomes more evidence for that story, but every minimum workout gives you new evidence. You don't need one giant transformation to change your identity, you need more proof repeated often, and that's how identity changes.
• 13:10
  Turo Virta: Imagine someone says, I want to become a runner. Do they become a runner by buying shoes? No, they become a runner by running, even slowly, even for 10 minutes, even badly in the beginning, and the same is true with strength training. You become someone who trains by training, not by waiting until you feel ready, not by waiting until you feel confident, not by waiting until your life is less busy. You become that person through reps, and some of those reps are small. That's why I call it an identity rep, because even a small workout can be a vote for your new identity. It says this is who I am becoming, and this is especially important for women over 40 or 50 who may feel like they lost trust with their body, maybe you used to be active, maybe you used to feel strong, maybe life got busy, maybe you took care of everyone else except yourself, maybe your body have changed, maybe your energy has changed, and now starting again feels emotional.
• 14:32
  Turo Virta: The minimum workout helps, because it doesn't ask you to become a totally different person overnight, it just asks you to take one small boat, one small action, one small rep, and that's enough to begin. Then the third step is no zero days. Now I want to explain this carefully, and I don't mean you must train hard every day, because that is not smart. Rest matters, recovery matters, sleep matters. Your body needs easy days, so no zero days does not mean hard workouts every day. It means do not disappear completely. Do something that keeps you connected to your goal. Some days that might be a full workout, some days it might be a short walk, some days it might be stretching, some days it might be such as one exercise, some days it might be preparing your workout clothes for tomorrow, some days it might be a planned rest day. Yes, planned rest can count because it's intentional. The real problem is not rest. The real problem is disappearing. There is a big difference between I plan to rest today because my body needs recovery and I. Keep the gain, and now I feel guilty.
• 16:06
  Turo Virta: One builds trust, the other builds same. No zero days means stay in contact with your habit.
• 16:17
  Turo Virta: Do not vanish. Don't let one missed workout become a full week. Don't wait for Monday.
• 16:22
  Turo Virta: Don't create a big restart. Just come back with one small action.
• 16:28
  Turo Virta: For example, you missed your workout on Monday. Instead of saying, 'This week is ruined already, you will say, 'Today I will do 10 minutes. That is no zero day. Or you plan to train, but you are exhausted. Instead of forcing a hard workout, you do mobility that is no zero day, or you don't have time for gym, you walk for 15 minutes, that's no zero day. It keeps the chain alive, and for many people this is the difference between consistency and starting over forever, because starting over is exhausting. It takes so much mental energy, and you need to motivate yourself again. You need to rebuild the habit again.
• 17:21
  Turo Virta: You need to fight. You need to fight the guilt again, but when you use minimum workouts, you don't have to restart so often, you just continue even if it's messy, and messy consistency beats perfect inconsistency.
• 17:42
  Turo Virta: Remember that messy consistency beats perfect inconsistency the fourth step is improve later.
• 17:51
  Turo Virta: This is important because some people worry, if I only do minimum workouts, will I ever make progress? And that's a fair question. The answer is minimum workouts are not the final goal, they are the bridge, they help you start, they help you return, they help you stay connected, but over time, yes, you want to build, you want to improve, you want to get stronger, and of course, you want to progress, but you don't need to improve everything today. You can improve later. First, build the habit, then build the workout.
• 18:39
  Turo Virta: Many people do this backwards.
• 18:39
  Turo Virta: They try to build the perfect workout before they have the habit, so the workout is too big, too hard, too much, and what happens then? People are quitting. So, instead, start with the habit you can repeat, and then slowly improve it. For example, it could be week one to minimum workouts, 10 minutes each, week two to 15 minute workouts, and so on. You add always something, or maybe you are starting with your body weight, then you are adding dumbbells, one more set, little bit more weight, one more training day. And this is how progress works. It works in small steps, repeated and improved over time, and there is no need to rush. Your body responds to consistency, not panic. A good plan doesn't ask what is the most I can do when motivation is high. A good plan asks what can I repeat long enough to get results, and that is the key. Improve later also means don't touch the beginning too harshly. Your first workouts might feel too easy, and that's okay. Easy can be useful when you are building the habit. Your first workouts might feel awkward, and that is okay.
• 20:24
  Turo Virta: Awkward means you are learning your first workouts might not feel impressive, and that is okay. Impressive is not the goal. Repeatable is the goal.
• 20:39
  Turo Virta: Then later, when the habit is stronger, we can make it more challenging, and that's how you win long term, so now I want to give you some examples, because I don't want this to stay as theory. Let's make it very practical. So, example: 10 minute full body workout. Set the timer for 10 minutes, and you are repeating 10 squats. Us push ups, you can do them on your knees, incline, whatever.
• 21:08
  Turo Virta: Then some kind of row movements with the pants or dumbbells, and then 20 30/42 plank, and that's it. If you get two rounds, great. If you get three rounds, great. If you go slowly, that's totally fine. The goal is not to destroy yourself. The goal is to show up. So, example two is the one round workout. Take your plant workout and do only one round. Maybe your full workout has squat, row, press, deadlift, core. Do one. one set of each, then stop. This is a great four days when your mind says I don't want to do anything, because one round feels possible. Example three is the mobility minimum.
• 22:05
  Turo Virta: If your body feels stiff, you can do some kind of mobility workouts, like exercises, like cat cow exercises, hip circles, shoulder circles, child's pose, hip flexor stretches. So these are just examples. They are really hard to explain if you are not familiar with exercises in written podcast, but if you search mobility routine, or like I have in my, for my members, there is a full mobility guide.
• 22:38
  Turo Virta: What you can do, short workouts in, so you have that already in in the plan, so you know exactly what to do, and this is the key when you are doing something, so you have always kind of a backup plan. Then it could be example four, could be walking minimum, go for a walk for 10, maybe 20 minutes outside if possible, and if you was walking is not a replacement for all strength training, but on a day where the choice is walking or nothing, walking is winning always. So, example five is just start rule, so put on your workout clothes.
• 23:32
  Turo Virta: Start the first exercise after five minutes. You are allowed to stop. This works because the hardest part is often starting, and many times after five minutes you will continue, but even if you stop, you keep the promise you made to yourself, and that is the key to get started with the habit. Example six would be the commercial break workout, so if you are watching TV, use commercial breaks or between episodes, do same type of things I told earlier, squats, push-ups, glute bridges, dead bugs, 10 of each, and this is not some glamorous workout, but it works, especially for people who say they don't have time. The kitchen workout would be example seven, so while you are waiting for food to cook, you could do push up some counter, calf raises, body weight squats, standing corp race. Again, it's not perfect, it's not something what you traditionally count perfect workout, but it's movement, and this is how you make fitness part of life, not something that only happens when everything is ideal. So now I want to be honest, minimum workouts are powerful, but they are not magic. If you only train forever, it's five minutes here and there, you might may not build all the strength or muscle you want. So, minimum workouts are not the whole plan. They are part of the plan. You still need proper training. You still need progressive overload, you still need enough weekly volume, and you still need to challenge your muscles, but minimum workouts keep the door open. They prevent the all or nothing crash. Think of them like emergency tools.
• 25:43
  Turo Virta: You don't drive your car with the spare tire forever, but if you get the flat tire, the spare tire helps you keep moving. A minimum workout is like that, it helps you keep moving until you can return to the full plan. So, the goal is not only do. Minimum forever, the goal is use minimum workouts when the alternative is quitting, and that's the difference. On good days, train properly. On normal days, follow the plan. On hard days, use the minimum. That's real life consistency. And now I want to go through a few thoughts people have, like what I hear basically every single day, but 10 minutes doesn't count. Yes, it does. It may not, it may not feel enough for your all goals, but it counts for consistency, it counts for identity, it counts for momentum, it counts because it is better than zero. Then, but I should be doing more, maybe, but doing more in your imagination is not better than doing less in real life. A small workout done is better than a perfect workout skipped, then, but I don't want to lower my standards, and this is not lowering your standards, this is creating a standard you can keep your standard becomes I don't disappear, and that is a strong standard. Then some people say, but I always start small and then stay small. Then you need a progression plan, start small, then build, but don't change the start. The start is not the finish. Some people say, but I feel guilty doing less. Guilt is not a good coach. Guilt makes you heavy. Progress needs honesty. Ask, what can I realistically do today, then do that, and tomorrow build again.
• 28:14
  Turo Virta: Now I want you to create your own minimum workout. Here is
• 28:18
  how. Step one: choose your time is your minimum five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, pick the number that feels almost too easy, and that is probably the right one. Step two is choose your type, is it going to be strength, walking, mobility, core, stretching? Choose what type of workout is your minimum, then step three is choose your exercises, and here I want to keep it simple. Choose exercises for, for example, for strength you would be choosing exercises you enjoy the most, so the start doesn't feel hard. One lower body exercise, upper body push, upper body pull, and one core exercises. Keep it simple. Step
• 29:18
  four: write it down. Don't keep it in your head. You can use your phone notes writing it down, because on a hard day your brain will negotiate, right. My minimum workout is, for example, 10 squats, push-ups, rows, and blank. Then step five. Five is decide when to use it. Use it when you are tired, busy, you miss the gym, you don't feel motivated, you only have limited amount of time, and you are about to skip. This is your backup plan, and this is how you protect the habit. And the biggest shift I want you to make is this: stop asking, was this workout perfect, and instead start asking, did I keep the habit alive? That question changes everything, because some days keeping the habit alive is the win, some days the win is not a personal record. It is not a hard session. It is not burning calories. The win is I didn't quit. I showed up. I kept the promise. I stayed connected, because that matters, especially if you have a history of starting and stopping, your first job is not to become perfect. Your first job is to become reliable, reliable to yourself, and that means when life is good, you train. When life is. Easy, you adjust when life is hard, you do the minimum, but you don't disappear, and this is the kind of consistency that lasts. So, let's recap mini framework in make it short, lower the barrier, but 10 minute workout is easier to start than a 60 minute workout. I identity rep.
• 31:29
  four: A minimum workout is a vote for the person you are becoming in no zero days. Don't disappear.
• 31:42
  four: Do something that keeps you connected. I improve later.
• 31:48
  four: Start more small, build later, and progress comes after repetition. This is not about doing less forever, it's about doing something when the alternative is nothing. So, here's your challenge for this week: create your minimum workout. Write this sentence when I don't have time or energy. My minimum workout is, and then you finish it. Maybe it's 10 minutes, maybe it's one round, maybe it's walk, maybe it's mobility, but decide it now, because if you want to wait, or if you are waiting until the hard day, your brain will talk you out of it. And remember, minimum workout is not a failed workout, it's a kept promise, and kept promises build self trust. If this episode helped you, share it with someone who keeps skipping workouts because they think short workouts don't count, and if you want to help building a training and nutrition routine that actually fits your real life, you can check my coaching options at Personal Trainer tor.it Thank you so much for listening, and talk to you in the next episode.