One of the frustrations of a busy person, especially a parent, is finding time to exercise. It’s especially difficult when you feel you need a large chunk of time or it’s not worth it. But there is good news from recent studies that you don’t need to do all your exercise at once to achieve fitness.
I’m a living example of this. I’ve been trying to squeeze my training into a busy schedule, which mostly revolves around getting kids here and there and meetings and obligations, work, laundry, the cat barfing up a hairball….you know the drill. (Sometimes I’m looking at a 45-minute chunk of time, including the shower. There should be a shower, get dressed, and find-your-car-keys triathlon, because I’m a lean, mean machine when it comes to this.)
At first, I’d throw up my hands and think, well, maybe tomorrow I’ll find time. But soon it became obvious that those big chunks of time weren’t going to happen very often, so I used the small amount of time, and it seemed to work. A 20-minute run every day is much, much better than nothing.
A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning shows that shorter exercise periods during the day equal, or even best, longer ones in terms of health benefits. The participants exercised in either one 30-minute session or two 15-minute sessions during the day. The cardiovascular benefits were equal, but the intermittent exercisers had some results that were better than the other group, including lower blood pressure and lower heart rate.
Selene Yeager, a USA Cycling certified coach is the “FitChick” columnist in Bicycling magazine. She cites research that says over the long haul cyclists who make frequency a priority over volume maintain better fitness. Her advice to people pressed for time is to take an easy spin on your bike or trainer for 20 – 30 minutes before breakfast during the workweek.
Not only will it boost your fitness, she says, but “the morning energy boost will burn an additional 1,200 calories–or 1/3 of a pound–per week.”
Consider these findings when you are flagging in your motivation to make the most of that spare half an hour.