Of course they work, 1 minute workouts work too. The science
behind weight loss and muscle growth is a science. So the better
question would be how efficiently do they work? If 3,500 calories equal a
pound and you want to lose a pound a week you will need to burn 500
calories a day. So, divide 500 by the number of calories you are burning
in your ten minute workout and that will be the number of times you
need to workout per day to reach your goal. For example, if you burn 100
calories in ten minutes you would need to workout 35 times a week to
burn one pound. Whether or not this makes sense to you would depend on
what you have going on. If you have an extremely unforgiving schedule
and ten minutes is all you can do, then it is better than nothing. You
will just need to accept that it may take longer to reach your goals.
Doing 10 minutes 2-3 times a day could have the added benefit of spiking
your metabolism increasing calories burned when not exercising.
Muscle
growth is a bit more complex. I can't really give you an exact formula
to guide this decision, because the comparison to your workout depends
on your current workout.. Muscle growth is your body's response to micro
trauma induced from load over time (weight x reps x speed x total
exercises). In this case the question would be better posed, as how
efficient your 10 minutes can be?
If you typically workout for an
hour and do 24o reps (using 2 body parts x 4 exercises x 3 sets x 10
reps per set) one sixth of that would be 40 reps (240/6). There are
things you could do such as decrease rest periods and workout for 10
minutes twice a day to make up the difference. This becomes a game of
trial and error. One thing to keep in mind is if the load (weights
lifted) is decreased by shorter rest periods and two workouts then your
muscle trauma will be decreased as well. If not you may be able to make
comparable gains (again over likely a longer period).
The moral of
the story is you need to pick a workout schedule that fits your goals.
It needs to fit your schedule too. There are no magic pills (not legal
ones at least) or quick fixes. You are going to get out of your workouts
exactly what you put into them. Live Fit, Be Fit...
