Q: Is it really possible to get fit in 10 minutes a day? 

The question is, what are your goals? If you're exercising to lose weight, you're fighting a losing battle. That's backwards - like driving your car so you can fill it up with gas again.

 

We eat - or should, anyway - to fuel our lives. Instead, many of us overeat on junk and then try to exercise the excess calories away. Have you ever worked out really hard on a treadmill for 45 minutes and then looked at the little display telling you that you burned as many calories as three small bites of a Snickers Bar? How motivating was that?

 

So again, what are your goals? Do you want to be able to play with your kids without getting winded or injured? Do you want to join them on hikes, in games of tag, in wrestling matches on the floor? Don't think for a moment that parenting isn't a demanding sport. Being a parent is like running two marathons a day while trying to get your shopping and grooming done on the side. It's grueling! So if your fitness goals include training to be a parent with good health and stamina, yes, you can absolutely get it done in 10 minutes a day.

 

If you're in good shape already, with a strong "core" (I put that in parens because it's a misnomer that leads people to believe they should be doing crunches and situps, neither of which serves much of a useful purpose), then you can get fit just by playing with your kids.

 

Dance with them, play chase games, wrestle, throw a ball, toss them up in the air (and please catch them on the way down), and let them guide you to fitness. Don't think workout, think joyful movement.

 

If you're not at that stage, and you'd like a 10-minutes a day "program" to rehab or prehab your entire body, to prevent back and neck pain, to strengthen weak muscles and start building stamina, I recommend getting three pieces of exercise equipment that I use almost every day.

 

They're portable, lightweight, completely functional, and provide hundreds of full-body workouts.

 

Plus, they come with a DVD put together by my fitness teacher, Jon Hinds, who also invented the equipment.

Learn more here:  http://tinyurl.com/y4m4e3