I am overwhelmed by a large number of requests of quick exercise program from my friends, relatives etc. Today, almost all people are very busy. They don’t get time for long duration workout. The Institute of Medicine published new guideline for cardio that we should do moderate workout at least one hour   daily. This is not possible for extreme busy people. Then what they should do? Will they swear off their workout program? No, this is not the solution.  I will give suggestions in this post for them a quick 15- minute exercise program to stay fit.

You should find any suitable time and place daily for this quick workout to stay fit. For this program, I will focus on Cardio workout only.

3 minute Warm Up

Start with 3 minute quick warm up by stretching. For this, visit my Warm Up and Cool Down post to learn warm up stretching.

For quick warm up you can drink tea, coffee( before 30 mins of workout) , wear warm clothes, and choose a warm place.

Here is one way of very effective warm up: Jumping jacks (one min), high knees ( one min)and then pushups ( one min).

10 Minute Cardio Workouts

High intensity and doing more hard work than usual is one of the best solutions to burn calories quickly.

For this 10 minutes cardio, you can do running, brisk walking, jogging, stair climbing, use any gym machine—tread mill, cross trainer, stepper , stationary bike etc.

Alternatively you can do a variety of exercise for a high intensity workout. The following exercises are great ways to increase your heart rate in a very short time and to increase your sweating condition:

• Jumping jacks
• Jogging in place – this is a great way to heart rate up.  Keep your body straight and maintain correct posture during this workout.
• Kick boxing
• Dancing
• Squat hops – Stand with feet wide. Lower into a squat and hop forward 4 times, keeping feet wide, legs bent into squat. Walk back and repeat
• Step jumps – keep a stepper bench or platform in front of you and jump on it and hold and come back to floor. Repeat.

• Plyometric lunges – Start with a basic lunge position and then  jump, switch legs while you jump and bent knees into lunge again of another legs.
• Skipping – this is one of the best short duration and high intensity workout to burn calories quickly

2 minute Cool Down

Finish your workout with cool down and stretch after these aerobic activities to avoid injury or muscle pull.

Image by: Alan Cleaver