| Experts recommend working out 45 minutes to an | | | | up to 20 years their junior. |
| hour a day (30 minutes for beginners) for weight loss | | | | In yet another study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins |
| and fitness. But if you're like most women, you don't | | | | School of Medicine in Baltimore found that for |
| always have a block of 30 to 60 minutes a day to | | | | improving health and fitness in inactive adults, many |
| devote exclusively to doing your workouts. | | | | short bursts of activity are as effective as longer, |
| You can still exercise--you just need to sneak in the | | | | structured workouts. "It would be useful for people to |
| equivalent in resourceful ways. "The idea is to keep | | | | get out of the all-or-nothing mind-set that unless they |
| moving," says fitness expert Ann Grandjean, EdD. "Get | | | | exercise for 30 minutes, they're wasting their time," |
| a cordless phone or put a long cord on your regular | | | | says Gaesser. |
| phone, and walk when you talk. Find whatever works | | | | Breaking exercise into small chunks on your |
| for you and just move. Park half a mile from the mall | | | | overscheduled days can also keep your confidence |
| and walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. | | | | up, says Harold Taylor, time management expert and |
| Those little, itty-bitty things add up." | | | | owner of Harold Taylor Time Consultants in Toronto, |
| Every Stolen Moment Adds Up | | | | who has written extensively on the subject. "Skipping |
| Lest you think that short bursts of activity have a | | | | exercise altogether is 'de-motivational'--you feel |
| negligible effect on your fitness program, think again. | | | | depressed and guilty," Taylor says. "If you skip it, you |
| One study found that women who split their exercise | | | | tend to figure, 'What's the use? I can't keep up with it |
| into 10-minute increments were more likely to exercise | | | | anyway.' Yet as long as you make some effort each |
| consistently, and lost more weight after 5 months, than | | | | day, that motivates you onward. Success breeds |
| women who exercised for 20 to 40 minutes at a time. | | | | success." |
| In a landmark study conducted at the University of | | | | Keep in mind, though, that short bursts of exercise are |
| Virginia, exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser, PhD, | | | | meant to supplement, not replace, your regular fitness |
| asked men and women to complete 15 10-minute | | | | routine. Here's a roundup of practical ways to work |
| exercise routines a week. After just 21 days, the | | | | exercise into your day even when you "don't have |
| volunteers' aerobic fitness was equal to that of people | | | | time to exercise." (You don't have to do them all in 1 |
| 10 to 15 years younger. Their strength, muscular | | | | day; select what works for you. |
| endurance, and flexibility were equal to those of people | | | | |