How to Lose Weight With 10 Minute Runs

Making physical activity a life priority helps you control your weight, increase energy levels, and reduce risks of diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Even a simple exercise such as running for 10 minutes can move you toward your health and weight-loss goals.

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Running for 10 minutes a day can help you lose weight. However, you should follow the American Heart Association's recommendations of at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day, five times a week.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, running at 5 miles per hour (which equates to 12-minute miles) can burn 100 calories in a 155-pound person. People above that weight can burn off a pound faster and those under can take longer, although gender, genetics and medical conditions can also serve as variables in how fast someone drops weight. To better determine the approximate number of calories you burn, you should use a physical activity calorie counter.

A triple combination of following a running program, eating an appropriate number of calories and sticking to a healthy diet can help set you up for weight-loss success.

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For first-time runners, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) recommends consulting with a doctor before you begin. Anyone with orthopedic or heart issues might need to bypass this type of physical activity for safety reasons.

ACE advises an intensity of 50 to 85 percent of maximal effort for an effective cardiorespiratory endurance program. However, if you keep running for 10 minutes every day at this same pace and exertion, your body will eventually adjust and weight loss will slow. You will need to switch up your 10 minutes of running once you feel comfortable performing this exercise.

To lose more weight in 10-minute runs, you should deviate a few of your runs each week from a basic, steady pace. This includes adding the following changes to your 10-minute workout:

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT). As one of the most popular and fastest-growing methods of exercise, HIIT is a time-efficient substitute for low-to-moderate continuous endurance exercise such as running. In addition, according to a January 2017 study published in PLOS One, HIIT training offers more enjoyment than a traditional workout due to the constant changing stimulus.
  
  In HIIT training, you alternate a high challenging physical activity with less aggressive recovery periods. As an example, you could follow the rating of perceived exertion found in an article in the June 2015 issue of the Biology of Sport in which researchers used a 6 to 20 scale. You run for one minute at a nine to 11 level (fairly easy run), alternating with a 15 to 17 level (running hard) for the next minute. You continue to alternate for 10 minutes.

• Sprint Interval Training. A March 2018 study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Training found that sprint intervals provide a cost-free, time-effective method of improving power and endurance. For a simple speed workout, try increasing your pace for each minute of the 10 minutes of running. You can also run the first five minutes at a specific pace and then the last half at a minute-per-mile pace faster. You might even find this makes the time go by quicker than your previous runs because you approach the workout in separate blocks of time.
  
  
• Hill Training. Running on slopes can burn more calories, according to an investigation published in July 2013 in PLOS One. Even small hills will burn more calories than flat surfaces. You can slowly work up to steeper inclines.
  
  A few adjustments like these when running for 10 minutes can help speed up weight loss and provide a more overall gratifying workout.