Learn How to be Super fit Using 10-Minute Exercise Bursts

Health experts advocate working out for about 30 minutes to 60 minutes a day to benefit from your fitness program. However, if you are the workaholic type, you probably don’t have the luxury to spend 30 minutes to a full hour a day exclusively for workouts.

Identify New Opportunities

Exercising is always possible provided you just squeeze it into your schedules in a more resourceful manner. Get off your couch and start moving around, advises fitness guru Ann Grandjean. Every bit of chore inside your house is an opportunity to get fit. The trick is to get yourself moving – clear out the attic, do some gardening, walk to the grocery store. Any activity that expends energy also burns up calories.

Use Your Time Wisely

You might think that several short forays into an exercise routine throughout the day won’t add up to much, but you might be surprised. In a recent clinical study, researchers found that participants who exercised in 10-minute increments throughout the day are more likely to exercise on a regular basis. They also managed to lose more weight than their counterparts who exercised for an hour at a time.

What other experts say

In a groundbreaking study made in Virginia, Glenn Gaesser, an exercise physiologist, instructed the male and female participants to accomplish 15 sets of 10-minute exercises in one week. In less than a month, each participant’s fitness level matched that of persons belonging to a much younger age group. Their endurance, strength and agility are comparable to those who are 20 years younger.

Breaking your workout up into small chunks to better fit lifestyle has many benefits. Harold Taylor, who specializes in time management, says that short bursts of exercise can boost your self-esteem and keep you motivated to stay healthy and keep moving. Otherwise, you can become frustrated that you don’t have time to work out and give up altogether.

An Addition, Not An Alternative

Breaking up your workout into more manageable blocks is a great idea, but it can’t replace a solid, comprehensive exercise routine. For those who find it difficult to make time for a regular trip to the gym, try some of the following to give yourself a more thorough workout. Remember, what’s important is that you do it regularly.

* When you pick up the morning paper, take a quick 5-minute walk up the street and back again.

* If you’re stuck at home to care for a sick child, work on the exercise bike or Stairwalker while your “patient” is asleep.

* Set aside a few minutes to do jumping jacks. You can burn 90 calories in just 10 minutes this way.

* Practice upright push-ups in between household chores by pushing in and out from the shoulder.

* Shoot hoops with your kids or play baseball in the backyard.

* Take a hint from exercise instructor Sheila Cluff, who stores dumbbells in her bathroom so she can do a few sets before bedtime. Cluff is a professional fitness expert at The Palms in Palm Springs, CA.

* Take your kid to baseball practice and walk around the field while you wait.