I’m a physio and if you only have 10 minutes do this workout

If you’re short on time, then these are some exercises you can do at home to feel healthier and fitter. See what you can achieve in just 10 minutes.

Time is the biggest barrier of participation in exercise in Australia.

Injury stops many people, but not as much as the clock.

Money might be limiting, but not as much as the hours in the day.

Apparently, we don’t have enough time to look after our hearts, our muscles and our brains. As a scientist, this breaks my heart, because we know that huge health benefits can be achieved from a very small amount of exercise.

This small amount can be measured in minutes, not hours.

Now the physio in me is still going to recommend you go to the gym twice a week for 30 minutes as that’s where your benefit will peak, but if you’ve got limited time these are four exercises I’d do.

Before we start remember:

1. Start small.

If you can’t do a full push up, do half, if you can’t do ½, do ¼, it will get easier I promise.

2. Move slowly.

This will make the exercise hard and, in theory, much safer as well. How slow? Well you can’t move too slow. But four seconds up and four seconds down is a good guide to start with. To make it harder, aim for 10 seconds.

3. Progress the difficulty.

Each week, try and make things a little harder. This means either do more repetitions, use a bigger range of motion or move slower. But be smart and don’t progress all three at once.

Reverse lunge

Start in a standing position and take a medium sized step backwards. Keep looking straight ahead so your torso stays up straight. Slowly lower your knee to the ground, pause for 1 second, then slowly rise and return to the starting position. Alternate sides.

To make it harder, hold some weight.

Calf raise

*The video shows an even harder level with two legs. It’s best to start at level one or two.

I give this exercise to almost every client over the age of 50, but even if you are under 50 your calves are super important for walking, running and climbing stairs. For this one hold onto the back of a chair and slowly rise up onto your toes. This is relatively easy for most people, so once you can do 12 progress to:

Level two: One leg at a time

Level three: Two legs, but start with your feet off the edge of a step

Level four: One leg, off the edge of a step

Push Up

A great upper body exercise for all ages and abilities: feet hip width apart and hands just wider than your shoulders. The easiest version of a push-up is to use a bench, meaning your body is leaning forward on an angle. Once you can do 12, progress by choosing a lower bench, eventually making it down to being horizontal on the floor.

The video above shows the floor version, which is harder than the bench.

Step up

*This video is for demonstration purposes only. Please use a stable step or bench while doing this exercise.

You might find this harder than you think. Start in a standing position with a step / bench in front of you (park benches are a good height). Step up onto the bench and finish standing bolt upright with your non weight bearing hip bent at 90 degrees. The lowering part of this movement is equally as important: lower yourself slowly, step down quietly and end in the standing position. Alternate sides.

Tim Dettmann

Tim Dettmann is a physiotherapist and the former director of Kieser Australia. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Melbourne and an industry fellow at Swinburne University of Technology.