Stolen Moments Add Up
Experts recommend working out 45 minutes to an hour a day (30 minutes
for beginners) for weight loss and fitness. But if you're like most
women, you don't always have a block of 30 to 60 minutes a day to devote
exclusively to doing your workouts.
Lest you think that short bursts of activity have a negligible effect
on your fitness program, think again. One study found that women who
split their exercise into 10-minute increments were more likely to
exercise consistently, and lost more weight after five months, than
women who exercised for 20 to 40 minutes at a time.
In a landmark study conducted at the University of Virginia, exercise
physiologist Glenn Gaesser, PhD, asked men and women to complete 15
10-minute exercise routines
a week. After just 21 days, the volunteers' aerobic fitness was equal
to that of people 10 to 15 years younger. Their strength, muscular
endurance, and flexibility were equal to those of people up to 20 years
their junior. "It would be useful for people to get out of the
all-or-nothing mind-set that unless they exercise for 30 minutes,
they're wasting their time," says Gaesser.
Breaking exercise into small chunks on your overscheduled days can
also keep your confidence up, since skipping it altogether can make you
feel tired, guilty, or depressed. Keep in mind, though, that short
bursts of exercise are meant to supplement, not replace, your regular
fitness routine.
Here are simple, practical ways to work exercise into your day even when you're short on time:
Around the House
1. When you go outside to pick up your morning
newspaper, take a brisk 5-minute power walk up the street in one
direction and back in the other.
2. If you're housebound caring for a sick child or
grandchild, hop on an exercise bike or do a treadmill workout while your
ailing loved one naps.
3. Try 5 to 10 minutes of jumping jacks. (A 150-pound woman can burn 90 calories in one 10-minute session.)
4. Cooking dinner? Do standing push-ups while you
wait for a pot to boil. Stand about an arm's length from the kitchen
counter, and push your arms against the counter. Push in and out to get
toned arms and shoulders.
5. After dinner, go outside and play tag or shoot baskets with your kids and their friends.
6. Just before bed or while you're giving yourself a
facial at night, do a few repetitions of some dumbbell exercises,
suggests exercise instructor Sheila Cluff, owner and founder of The Oaks
at Ojai and The Palms, in Palm Springs, CA, who keeps a set of free
weights on a shelf in front of her bathroom sink.
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