Life can get pretty busy sometimes. So busy that it seems like there just isn’t enough time to get a good workout in. No matter what our goal is, many of us think we need to exercise for an hour or more in order to get any benefit — but sometimes short workouts have their advantages for more reasons than you may think.

The biggest reason most people don’t reach their goals or can’t maintain them is not being able to keep their routine consistent. There are many reasons for this — not being able to keep up the long workouts due to lack of time, not enjoying the long workouts every day or creating a negative feeling around them because they are forcing themselves to work out when they aren’t feeling well or are injured, or it starts interfering with their schedule.

The key to reaching your health and fitness goals is understanding that the road to wellness won’t be perfect. Your goals don’t need to change along the way, but your plan will have to be adjusted regularly. Life will bring you obstacles and challenges continuously — this includes a lack of time.

When we stick to thinking we need an hour or more to work out, we adopt an “all or nothing” mindset. This is our biggest mental obstacle.

In order to maintain consistency, doing what you can, when you can is key to your follow-through. Consistency leads to achieving small goals, which leads to self-efficacy. Mastering habits, confidence, motivation, and optimism is all brought on by consistency.

This is why short workouts can be the thing that helps you follow through every week with your workout and movement goals. Here are some reasons why short workouts are so helpful in the path to achieving your goals:

  1. Short workouts are a time-saver. They can be effective and efficient. When it comes to improving your fitness levels, intensity matters more than the length of the workout: you can get great results with short and more intense workouts. Longer workouts usually come with longer rest periods — or at least they should.
  2. Short workouts can feel really good when you are struggling with motivation. Motivation isn’t linear. Some days you will be kicking up your heels and other days you will be dragging them. On days where motivation is a struggle, short workouts make you feel accomplished and give you a boost in self-efficacy.
  3. Short workouts are great when you travel, whether it’s business or pleasure. When we travel, typically we aren’t looking to spend a ton of time in the gym. These quick workouts help you stay consistent and allow you to get on with your day.
  4. Short workouts are great for beginners. As beginners, we often start where we want to be instead of where we are. If you are constantly sore, get injured or dread the workouts, you are less likely to follow through. Keeping it short and working out with purpose allows you to slowly get your body progressing through your workout program. This is crucial to consistency.
  5. You don’t necessarily need a lot of equipment. With higher intensity, short workouts, you can stick to one or two pieces of small equipment: chose from bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, a barbell, etc. You can do dumbbell and kettlebell flows or, for more advanced people, dumbbell and barbell complexes (a series of more advanced movements done one after the other) are great. If you are travelling or want to do a quick workout at home, bands are amazing — they don’t take up much room in your suitcase or storage area.

Here is a short circuit using bands. I’ve described seven exercises that can be done in many ways, to suit beginners as well as the more advanced.

  1. Banded side steps (works the glutes): place a mini band around your feet. Putting the band here will help activate the external rotators in your hips, making stronger hips. Make sure you are moving through the side of your hips and not using your feet to over-step. Avoid rotating your foot outward to help you move sideways.
  1. Moving push-ups (works the chest, triceps, and shoulders): I suggest that you do this exercise without the mini band if push-ups are difficult for you to do. You can also modify this exercise by going onto your knees — but make sure that you maintain a straight line with your back, glutes, and legs. If you want to use the band around your wrists, make sure you use one that allows you to maintain good form but will add some resistance to the exercise through your shoulders. Start with your hands together, then move one hand so it is slightly outside of the same shoulder and then do a push-up. Bring that same hand back to centre and repeat the same thing on the other side. Keep alternating for the desired number of repetitions. When moving back to the centre position, move slowly and with control. The band will try to pull your arm in quickly. Make sure you are engaging your core muscles throughout the exercise, especially when pressing back up from the floor.
  1. Single-leg banded deadlift (works the posterior chain from ankles to upper back): place a mini band around one foot. Grab the other side of the band with the opposite hand. Keep a neutral spine, lead with the other leg by lifting it behind you and keep your hips square. You are trying to avoid a lot of rotation over to one side. Tip: think of pointing your foot towards your body as you lift it. You can do this without the band as well if you have trouble with your balance. You could also hold onto a wall until you get the hang of it. Repeat on the other leg.
  1. Incline banded mountain climbers (works the core, quads, hamstrings, shoulders, triceps): I suggest doing this on an incline, using a bench (if you have one), coffee table, dresser or the couch at first if you haven’t used a band for mountain climbers before. If you are more advanced, then you can give it a go on the floor. Make sure your arms are directly under your shoulders and that you are maintaining a neutral position with your back and legs. Your glutes should remain down or neutral as you alternate bringing your knees in. You can do this slow or fast. Choose which feels best for you to start or based on your fitness level.
  1. Mini band single-arm bent-over row (works the mid-back, lats, biceps): using a small loop band, place it around one foot. Grab the other side with your opposite hand. Opposite leg goes back slightly in a bent over position with a neutral spine (stick out your glutes and chest). Pull the band to your side, pulling the shoulder blade towards the spine. Keep the elbow and wrist straight. Repeat on the other side.
  1. Banded squat to reverse lunge (works the glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors): you can do this without the band to make it suitable for beginners. Make sure the band is just above the knees, not on top of them or too high on your legs. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and claw the floor with your toes. As you squat down, push your knees out without letting your big toe off the ground. Let yourself hinge at your hips, which will put your spine on an angle. Come back to the starting position, then step back with one leg — but not too far — again hinging at your hips and keeping all four corners of your feet on the floor. Come back to standing, repeat the squat, then lunge with the opposite leg. Keep alternating this sequence.
  1. Banded high knees (works the quads, core, calves, hamstrings): adding the band to this exercise makes it a lot harder, so if you are new to this exercise thing, start with alternating low knees or just do a jog on the spot. Focus on engaging your core so that your legs move more fluidly and you remain in the same spot. You can do this as fast or as slow as you need to for your fitness level.

There are a quite a few ways to do these exercises:

  1. Timed circuit: 30–40 seconds of work and 15–30 seconds of rest in between. You need time to switch the position of the band and the rest will depend on your fitness level. More rest will be needed for beginners and less for more advanced.
  2. Circuit with reps: 12–20 repetitions for each side or exercise. Rest for 30–60 seconds in between each or less if you like.
  3. Straight sets: this is great for a beginner. This allows you to be more aware of form and focus on the execution of the exercise rather than the intensity at first. Do one set, then rest. Complete 2–3 sets of one exercise before moving to the next one.

Based on using bands or body weight as resistance for beginners, this will be a higher-repetition workout good for endurance. If you add dumbbells to this workout, it will enable you to do a lower rep range. You can start with one round or do as many as four or five if you are more advanced. Remember that your workouts should be progressive and you should always start where you are. Always take into account the time you have, your fitness levels, injuries, goals, what you enjoy and where you work out — what’s available to you.

If you are new to resistance training, even if you are just using body weight, make sure you consult a physician first.

We won’t always have time for long workouts at the gym. Sometimes we struggle to get up from our desk to move more during the day, so make sure you focus on consistency in movement overall and do what you can to maintain healthy habits around it.

Don’t get caught up too much in what others are doing or not doing. Focus on what helps you stay consistent in the moment and alter your plan to stay true to you and your goals.