Do 5-Minute Workouts Work?

Everyone wants to know how to lose weight fast, but the key to successful and healthy weight loss is gradual progression (cue the frustrated groans). Those groans are actually just a reaction to common misconceptions about gradual weight loss. Pacing yourself when it comes to fitness doesn’t mean months of denying yourself all forms of sugar and carbohydrates, or spending hours on the elliptical with minimal results.

Most people who’ve had those experiences have experienced them because they were going about weight loss the wrong way. Pacing yourself means taking the time to get to know what your body needs so you can become healthier and more confident in your ability to stay healthy, every day. 

We've put together a list of five-minute workout routines to help you get started on your fitness journey. Really, just five minutes! We promise.

Why Five Minute Workout Routines?

A common frustration for many people who are just starting out on their weight loss journey is feeling insecure at the gym. They see the woman deadlifting 60 pounds or the guy running 12 miles in one workout session, feel insecure, and give up. But what these fitness seekers don’t see is that the same woman started out lifting five pounds, and that same man used to struggle to finish a mile.

Everyone started in the same spot you’re in now. Incorporating five-minute workouts into your daily routine, can help get your body in shape and your mindset in a confident place so when you walk into the gym for the first time, all you see is the progress that lies ahead.

Are Short Workout Routines Effective?

If you're doubting that a five-minute workout routine can actually be effective, we get it. We did, too! But they're not just a fitness myth. There is a type of training developed by Izumi Tabata, former researcher at the National Institute for Health and Nutrition and current professor and researcher at Ritsumeikan University’s Faculty of Sport and Health Science that's designed to be super short and super effective. Tabata training is focused on the belief that a workout should not be based on the amount of time devoted to exercising. Instead, a workout should be based on what the exercise does for your body after the workout is over. 

It’s not how long you spend exercising, it’s the type of exercise you perform and how many calories your body continues to burn once the exercise is over.

Studies on Tabata show that short duration, high intensity interval training (HIIT), results in a prolonged calorie burn because this type of training causes your body to take longer to return to its rest state. A five-minute Tabata, or HIIT workout can result in the same benefits as running 30 minutes on the treadmill. Incorporating these five-minute workouts during commercial breaks of your favorite television show, while waiting for your dinner to bake in the oven, or in the break room during lunch can place you on the fast track to your fitness goals.

The Workout Routines

Choose one to three of these workout routines to perform, one to five times per week (depending on your experience level).

Five-Minute Burpee Workout

Set a timer on your phone for four minutes and keep watch. Perform burpees for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this pattern until your five minutes are up.

Jumping Jacks

Set a timer for five minutes. Perform jumping jacks for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds, repeat this for four minutes. You can also try switching up the type of jumping jacks you perform. Instead of performing traditional jumping jacks for every set, try switching from traditional jumping jacks to seal jumping jacks to plank jacks.

Squats, Push-ups, Plank

Set a timer for five minutes. Squat for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Do push-ups for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Plank for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this progression for five minutes.

Kettlebell Workout

Swing a kettlebell for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. Repeat these movements for four minutes. Here's how to do a kettlebell swing.

Sprinting

Sprint for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds and repeat eight times. This one works on a dreadmill (oops, we mean treadmill) or outside. You can even try these intervals with any cardio: up your speed for 20 seconds and slow back to normal for 10.

Jump rope

Jump for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds and repeat 10 times.