Healthy Living - Keep it Short... Your workouts, that is.

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Healthy Living

Keep it Short...

Your workouts, that is.

Isn't that a wonderful thing to hear? But why are shorter workouts better?

You're more likely do it if you keep it short or break up your workouts into shorter, more intense sessions. A 20-30 minute strength training workout is a lot easier than trying to find 60-75 minutes. New studies show keeping it short can have big results:

More Minutes. Overweight women who did quickies (three 10-minute workouts a day) totaled an extra 35 minutes of exercise per week compared to a similar group who exercised 30 min a day.

More Miles. In a University of Nebraska-Kearney study, overweight walkers who did two 15-min bouts, 5x/wk, nearly doubled their weekly mileage compared with walkers who walked 30 min, 3x/wk.

Less Dropout. Twice as many people stuck with more, short workouts as those who stuck with fewer long ones. Interesting, considering that the short workout group put in more days (5 vs. 3) and committed more time weekly to exercise (150 min. vs. 90 min).

More Calorie Burn. Do workouts all in one shot or break them up, you burn about the same amount of calories. But what happens AFTER is a different story. The calories you burn after a workout may be slightly higher if you break up your workouts.

Better Recovery. A long, tedious, 60-90 minute workout will burn you out physically and mentally - fast. Concentrating your workouts into 30-35 minutes allows your muscles to recover between workouts, and to work your body more frequently, as shown in less dropout.

by Garrett J. Braunreiter, BA, CSCS
President, The World Peak Performance Center