As you may already know, I named my studio Tiny Fitness because I know that the tiny changes are the ones that bring us the biggest results. If you’re tired of starting and stopping, getting “on” and “off” the wagon, plugging away on the treadmill but not seeing any results, or just not sure where to start your fitness journey, this series is for you.
Prefer to see a video instead of reading? Check out this week’s tip on our YouTube channel instead!
I’ll be posting tips on the blog (use the box on the sidebar to subscribe via email), Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube each week for the next 16 weeks. If you miss a day (or more) of work or a week (or more) of tips, just jump back in when you’re ready. You don’t have to “make up” or “catch up” on anything you’ve missed – just keep swimming along with us and we will all make it to the finish line together with some amazing results.
(Speaking of results, I recommend that you pause right now to go weigh yourself, take a bodyfat measurement if you are able to do so on your scale or on the blood pressure machine at your local pharmacy, and measure your waist, hip, bust, arm, and leg. I won’t bug you to check back in on these numbers for four months!)
Week 1: Start with 10 minutes (every day).
This is the tip that made me get consistent with living a healthy lifestyle over 15 years ago, and I have seen it work for so many others as well. Set an alarm to remind you or add an item to your calendar, and commit to spending 10 minutes a day, every day, on your healthy lifestyle.
You can do SO much in 10 minutes.
Ten minutes are better than zero minutes because you forgot, “forgot”, or tried to get started but were overwhelmed. Ten minutes a day is more than an hour each week! And, for many types of workouts, like HIIT, stretching, strength training, yoga, and beginner cardio, ten minutes can absolutely be enough.
Not sure what to do with your 10 minutes? My best recommendation is to take a walk, even if you’re in your house, at the mall or a large store like Target, or if you only go around your block a time or two. And, if 10 minutes of walking creates too much strain, start where you can – even 1 minute is better than 0.
Struggling to get motivated? Come take a walk with me (video workout)!
Tiny Changes to Improve your Health and Fitness in 10 Minutes
Again – walking is my #1 recommendation! If you’re not sure what else to do, you can…
- Stretch
- Prepare a healthy meal
- Do an ab workout
- Look up some healthy recipes and make your grocery list
- Set up your workout clothes
- Drink a glass of water
- Schedule your overdue physical exam
- Do some push-ups (wall push-ups count!)
- Breathe
- Nap
…or whatever else sounds healthy to you, or maybe whatever else is keeping you from going on your 10 minute walk each day.
Don’t try to do something different each day this week, as we will be adding on more healthy habits as we continue the next 15 weeks of tiny changes together. What I really want you to do is just to walk for 10 minutes a day.
If you’re already active, challenge yourself on your walk. Do you need to work on your mental focus or your mind-muscle connection? Do you need to reduce your stress with some deep breathing or an awesome playlist? Do you need to walk with a weighted backpack to increase your lower-body work? Does your walk need to include jogging intervals, or do you need to walk on stairs for more of a cardio challenge?
Need more accountability for these 16 weeks? Comment on our Facebook post for each week’s challenge and I will check in with you to make sure you’re still hanging in there!
