When you are busy taking care of children, working, going to school, or anything else our busy world demands, trying to burn fat doesn't always fit neatly into your schedule.

An alternative many people turn to is short workouts. Do three or four ten minute workouts produce the same effects as one long one?

You often hear that it takes the body about twenty minutes to start burning serious calories and fat, so wouldn't that make shorter workouts ineffective? What is the best way to burn fat on a tight schedule?

If you spend the same amount of time on your short workouts as you would on one long ones, the American Heart Association says that you will get the same benefits.

Four ten minute workouts will provide your body with the same benefit as one forty minute one. And, the AHA says, intense exercise works much better than slower paced workouts.

If you are going to try short workouts, they need to be difficult in order to burn fat. The following tips can help you challenge your body:

1. Run like the wind.

Try to go at a faster pace than you normally would. If you're not a runner, walk very briskly for ten minutes. Both will get your heart pumping.

2. Do a gym machine for ten minutes.

If you are at the gym or have equipment at home, jump on and exercise extremely rigorously for ten minutes.

3. Run up a hill or a set of stairs.

Sprint up a hill or staircase. Walk down more slowly. At the bottom, sprint up again. Repeat for ten minutes.

4. Have flashbacks to phys ed with jumping jacks.

5. Do ten minutes of jumping rope.

Any movement is a potential mini workout. The key is to make sure it is intense enough so your body works and so you burn fat. Adding some weights to your routine also helps.

Make sure you include strength training in your short workout routine. Your body needs the variety in order to keep challenged and burn fat. Do a quick warm-up before you do the following:

* Deadlifts

* Lunges

* Deadlifts

* Tricep dips

* Squats. Squats are one of the most effective moves to tone your lower body.

For great results and a great workout, do several repetitions of each. You can also combine the moves, called compound moves. These work more than one muscle group and include chest presses combined with lunges or overhead presses done with squats.

It is also important to warm up and cool down. They don't have to be extensive, simply walking briskly for a few minutes is sufficient for warming up, and moving a more slowly is fine for cooling down. Stretching before and after you exercise also helps loosen your muscles and prevent injury.

If you can only fit in short workouts into your schedule, you are doing great things for your body. Above all, you will burn fat and lose weight.

Working out for shorter periods of time can also be much more motivating and can help you stick with your exercise program.

Your busy schedule may be a valid excuse for not doing a long workout each day, but not with short workouts! You can always find ten minutes somewhere.