Fast Track Your Fat Loss! - for Women

10 minute workouts that slim you down and tone all your trouble spots.

By Chris Freytag Prevention

"No time" is no longer an excuse for skipping a workout. Just ask Prevention's contributing fitness editor, Chris Freytag, who developed this supereffective program that will shape you up on your schedule. As a working mother of three who drives car pools, corrects homework, and travels up to 2 weeks each month, Chris knows a thing — or five — about living a hectic lifestyle and keeping trim. Her secret weapon: do-anywhere 10-minute routines that burn calories and tone every trouble spot. Even better, the latest research shows that they're more effective than traditional half-hour workouts. Almost instantly, you'll have more energy. Within 2 weeks, you'll feel stronger and look firmer. In 6 weeks, you could lose up to 10 pounds!

Put It All Together

What you need

A pair of supportive walking shoes, a set of 5- to 8-pound dumbbells, a chair or low table, and an exercise mat or a soft, carpeted area.

How to do it

Choose your goal below (lose weight, get toned, or boost energy and get healthier). Each one has a target number of sessions you need to complete each week. You'll mix and match our various 10-minute cardio workouts and our 10-minute firming routines weekly to achieve your desired results.

When to do it

Ideally, aim to fit in 2 or 3 sessions throughout each day — but if you can't, simply adjust your workouts over the week. For example, if you have time for only 1 or 2 workouts one day, double up another day when you have more time. Just try to get all your sessions in by the end of the week.

Here's how a typical day could pan out:

6:50-7:00 am	Energy-Boost Walk
12:20-12:30 pm	Calorie-Burn Walk
5:15-5:25 pm	Arm Sculptor
8:50-9:00 pm	Belly Flattener

Do these: To Lose Weight

5 Energy-Boosters

6 Calorie-Burners

4 Toning Walks

2 Butt & Thigh Firmers

2 Arm Sculptors

2 Belly Flatteners

Total: 21 sessions each week

Do these: To Get Toned

3 Energy-Boosters

2 Calorie-Burner

6 Toning Walks

3 Butt & Thigh Firmers

3 Arm Sculptors

3 Belly Flatteners

Total: 20 sessions each week

Do these: To Boost Energy And Get Healthier

4 Energy-Boosters

4 Calorie-Burners

4 Toning Walks

1 Butt & Thigh Firmer

1 Arm Sculptor

1 Belly Flattener

Total: 15 sessions each week

Each of these three 10-minute routines revs up your calorie burn; we've tailored them even further for variety and to help you reach your specific goal. All three maximize every minute of your workout time by getting your heart rate up quickly and keeping you in the optimal fat-burning zone throughout the 10-minute routine. Intensity levels are based on a 1-to-10 scale, with 1 being how you'd feel standing still and 10 how you'd feel sprinting. And because the workout is short, you'll have more energy to give it your all the entire time and burn more fat in the process.

Energy-Booster

MIN.	ACTIVITY	INTENSITY
0:00	Warm-up	4
1:00	Moderate-pace walk: You can talk in short sentences	5
4:00	Pick up the pace	6
7:00	Brisk but not breathless; power-walk pace	7
9:00	Moderate to cool-down pace	5-4
10:00	Finish

Calorie-Burner

MIN.	ACTIVITY	INTENSITY
0:00	Warm-up	4
1:00	Moderate-pace walk: You can talk in short sentences	5
4:00	Pump it up: Fast walk, almost breathless	9
5:00	Moderate-pace walk	5
6:00	Pump it up: Fast walk	9
7:00	Moderate-pace walk	5
8:00	Pump it up: Fast walk	9
9:00	Moderate to cool-down pace	5-4
10:00	Finish

Toning Walk

MIN.	ACTIVITY	INTENSITY
0:00	Warm-up	4
1:00	Moderate-pace walk: You can talk in short sentences	5
3:00	Hit the stairs	8
5:00	Moderate-pace walk	5
6:00	Hit the stairs	8
8:00	Moderate-pace walk	5
9:00	Moderate to cool-down pace	5-4
10:00	Finish

To Firm Even Quicker

We have 1-minute toners that you can do intermittently almost anywhere to shape up in less time, or use them on days when you can't fit in a full 10-minute workout.

For Faster Results

One Minute Toner:Upper Body

At home or in the office: Do standing push-ups. Place hands on a desk or counter and bend elbows, lowering chest, then push back up.

These sculpting workouts do double duty. Each includes 1-minute cardio bursts so you can rev your calorie burn while you tone.

Butt & Thigh Firmer

Warm up by marching in place while swinging your arms at your sides for 30 seconds. Rest 10 to 20 seconds between exercises. Repeat routine twice.

ACTIVITY	REPETITIONS
Clock Work	4 clocks with each leg
Cardio Burst: Side-to-Side Shuffle	1 minute
One-Legged Lunges	8 times with each leg
Cardio Burst: Side-to-Side Shuffle	1 minute
Monster Squats	8 times with each leg

	1. Clock Work Stand with feet together. Step left foot forward (12 o'clock position) 2 to 3 feet, bend knees, and lower into a lunge, keeping front knee behind toes, as shown. Don't lean forward. Press into left foot and stand back up, feet together. Step left foot out to side (9 o'clock position), feet hip-width apart. Bend knees and hips and sit back into a squat, knees behind toes, chest lifted. Stand back up, feet together. Step left foot behind you (6 o'clock position), lower into a lunge, then stand back up. Repeat with right leg stepping to 3 o'clock position for squat.
	2. One-Legged Lunges Place left foot on chair or table behind you so leg is extended and you're balancing on right leg. Bend right knee, lowering into lunge, front knee behind toes. Press into right foot standing back up.
	3. Monster Squats Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes pointing out slightly, arms relaxed at sides. Sit back into a squat, keeping knees behind toes. As you stand up, raise left knee out to side, placing foot back on floor as you lower into next squat, lifting right leg.

Cardio Burst:Side-to-Side Shuffle

Sit back into a squat, with arms bent in front of you, elbows by sides. Shuffle 10 to 15 feet to the right, moving right foot then left foot. Return shuffling to left.

10-Minute Workout: Arm Sculptor

Warm up by marching in place while "swimming" your arms as if you were doing the breaststroke for 30 seconds. Rest 10 to 20 seconds between exercises. Repeat routine twice.

ACTIVITY	REPETITIONS
Supported Curls	15 times with each arm
Cardio Burst: Mountain Climbers	1 minute
Side Plank Push-Ups	8 times on each side
Cardio Burst:Mountain Climbers	1 minute
T-Stand Rows with Kickbacks	15 times, balancing on left leg first time through and right leg second time through

	1. Supported Curls Sit in a chair with feet a few inches apart. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, lean forward from hips and rest elbows on thighs, palms up. Bend left elbow, curling dumbbell toward shoulder. Keep upper arm still. Hold for a second, then lower and repeat with right arm. Continue alternating arms.

Cardio Burst: Mountain Climbers

Get in push-up position with hands on seat of chair. bring right foot forward 10 to 12 inches, knee bent. jump quickly, switching feet as if you were climbing a mountain.

For Faster Results: Upper Arms

At the store: Bend elbows, curling grocery bags toward shoulders. Hold for a second, then slowly lower.

Warm up by marching in place while slowly twisting your torso side to side, arms bent in front of you, for 30 seconds. Rest 10 to 20 seconds between exercises. Repeat routine twice.

ACTIVITY	REPETITIONS
Crisscrosses	12 reps
Cardio Burst: Bob 'n' Weave	1 minute
Full-Body Roll-Ups	5 to 8 times
Cardio Burst: Bob 'n' Weave	1 minute
Windmills	8 times on each side

	1. Crisscrosses Lie faceup with knees above hips, calves parallel to floor, hands behind head. Contract abs, raising head and shoulders off floor as you extend right leg. Twist to left, bringing right elbow and left knee toward each other. Don't pull on your neck; the work should come from your abs. Hold for a second, then switch sides, twisting to right. (That's 1 rep.)
	2. Full-Body Roll-Ups Lie faceup with legs extended, arms overhead. Contract transverse abdominis (the deep ab muscle that runs between your hip bones) as you inhale and raise arms up toward ceiling. Exhale as you tuck chin and roll up, pulling navel toward spine. Curl forward with arms extending in front of you. Inhale as you stay rounded. Slowly and with control, reverse directions, uncurling body as you exhale and lower to floor, one vertebra at a time. Keep feet on floor the entire time.
	3. Windmills Kneel with right leg extended to side, arms out to sides, palms up. Bend torso to left, placing left hand on floor, raising right hand overhead, and lifting right leg off floor. Hold for a second, then return to start.

Cardio Burst: Bob 'n' Weave

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms bent. Squat and dip head and torso to right as you stand back up, like you're ducking under something. Repeat to left.

For Faster Results: Belly & Butt

In the car or standing in line: Alternate between contracting your abs and glutes, holding for 30 seconds each.

Why 10-Minute Workouts Are Better

Here are the benefits you'll enjoy if you follow Chris's plan:

You'll lose 30% more fat Women who performed 10-minute bouts of exercise throughout the day lost nearly a third more weight than those who exercised in one 30- to 40-minute chunk 3 times a week, reports a University of Pittsburgh study.

You'll cut your heart attack risk in half All it takes is accumulating an hour of walking a week. (You can do that!) Other studies show that multiple short workouts are more effective at lowering triglycerides (a type of blood fat that increases your heart attack risk) and raising "good" HDL cholesterol than a continuous 30-minute bout.

You'll shrink your belly in less time Women ages 31 to 57 who squeezed in three 10-minute walks most days of the week lost nearly twice as many inches off their waistlines as those who did single 30-minute sessions, according to British research.

You'll get fit faster Men and women who did two 15-minute workouts 4 days a week improved their cardiovascular endurance twice as much as those who worked out in a single 30-minute routine 4 days a week. Miniworkouts deliver such powerful results because you're more likely to do them, say experts.

The Expert: Chris Freytag, contributing fitness editor and model for our story, created this exclusive workout based on her forth-coming book and new DVD, both titled Shortcuts to Big Weight Loss.

Posted in: Fitness,Women's Issues