I tried an Arnold Schwarzenegger-approved 10-minute bodyweight workout. It’s perfect if you’re busy and can’t be bothered to exercise.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daily Pump Club newsletter recommended a workout called 10/10.
• It involves just 10 minutes of bodyweight exercises and a 10-minute walk.
• I tried it and will definitely do it again when I’m short on time and motivation.

One of the biggest barriers to training regularly is finding the time. But, workouts don’t have to be longand anything is better than nothing.

Earlier this week, Arnold SchwarzeneggerThe daily newsletter “Pump Club” shared a workout that requires just 10 minutes of work and 10 minutes of walking. It’s called the 10/10 workout and was developed by personal trainer Cory Gregory.

The training is simple and involves just two movements: squats It is push ups. You perform a squat, then a push-up, then two of each, then three, and so on until 10 minutes are up.

The idea is that it is scalable:

• Beginners can do chair squats and wall/incline pushups (with hands on wall, bench, or chair)

• The intermediate level is body weight squats and push-ups

• The advanced version consists of heavy dumbbell or kettlebell squats and dumbbell bench presses.

If you’re using weights, it may take some trial and error to find the right weight, but the newsletter recommended choosing one that you can typically perform 10 to 12 reps with, even if it feels too light at first.

You then spend 10 minutes to walkand that’s it.

Gregory told Insider he recommends this workout for two reasons.

“I believe everyone has 20 minutes and most people can scale that workout and then walk,” he said. “I think this has a very high completion rate and this format could really be applied with any two exercises and deadlines.”

It’s a full-body workout that combines strength and cardio

Rachel Hosie/insider

I have been training strength and working out regularly for over six years, but I also travel a lot, so I don’t always have access to a gym or any equipment.

I read about the 10/10 workout while visiting (and working at) my parents’ house, so I decided to give it a try during my lunch break.

Before trying the workout, I wasn’t worried about squats as I would only be using my body weight. I it was, However, worried about the push-ups. Although I may have concluded 100 push-ups a day for 100 days during lockdown, I haven’t practiced much since then and my strength has definitely decreased.

I knew the number of reps would increase quickly, so I figured if I had to get down on my knees, I’d just do it and keep going.

And that’s what I did.

The workout went by quickly, but it quickly became challenging in the push-ups department. The squats were never very difficult, but they kept my heart rate elevated and I found myself out of breath and sweating. Next time, I think I’ll try holding a weight.

Sometimes I lost count of how many reps I did, but I think I got about 15 reps of each movement in the end.

For me, and I’m sure many other women in particular, given that research shows that increasing upper body strength can be more challenging for us, bodyweight pushups and squats are not really equivalent in level of difficulty.

My advice would be to take the defined levels as a guide and modify them to your own level. If you need to do incline push-ups but squats with weights, do it.

It’s perfect for when you’re short on time or motivation

Rachel Hosie/insider

Overall, I loved this workout. It was a simple full-body blitz that combined both strength It is cardio, and the format keeps it interesting. You can’t think about much more than counting your reps.

Unlike workouts where you try to perform as many reps as possible, that’s not the goal here, so you don’t feel tempted to compromise form for speed.

I loved the addition of the walk afterwards too. It cools well. When I’m working from home, a lunch break is valuable. I like to get out and move around, while also finding time to prepare and eat lunch. This workout lets you do it all.

Even though I’m a fitness reporter, I don’t always feel motivated to train. But everyone can find 10 minutes (if not 20), and unless you’re wearing super restrictive clothing, I’d say you don’t even need to wear workout clothes.

I will definitely try this workout again and I may also try mixing it up with different exercises.