Sedentary adults almost always cite "lack of time" as their No. 1 reason for not having an exercise habit. It's also the reason that many active people stop exercising, as work and family demands pressure their schedule to force fitness out of the picture.
Workout efficiency education -- learning to do more in less time -- can change the way people think and feel about living an active lifestyle.
If you've got the right setup and flexibility, planning your day so it includes "fitness snacks" is a fantastic way to exercise efficiently.
A fitness snack is a brief bout of exercise -- say, 10 minutes as compared with the classic half hour or more. Make it plural by doing more than one snack a day.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine's 2011 position stand on physical activity, 10-minute bouts of exercise work. They can be used to chip away at the weekly recommendation for at least 150 minutes of moderately intense activity.
When I first heard this recommendation, that exercise physiologist within me questioned it. I could see the benefit from an adherence standpoint. It's easy to get that more people would be more likely to do less exercise. But there's solid research behind the sports medicine college's stand, and after researching it, I understood. The body responds to repeated demands.
Of course, doing 10-minute bouts two or three times per day also can present some challenges. If changing out of work clothes is required, it's probably not going to happen.
To take full advantage, I recommend scheduling one 10-minute bout first thing in the morning, one right after work and one after dinner. This ensures that no wardrobe changes are needed and increases one's chances for success.
Another key for increasing workout efficiency is choosing time-efficient exercises. Performing a one-arm concentration curl is a great way to challenge an arm, but it's not particularly great when you consider the time/impact ratio. It takes a full two to three minutes to address both arms, and then you've only exercised a tiny percentage of your skeletal muscle.
Rather than selecting exercises that target one body part, think of ways to combine movements. Squat presses, lunge curls and other upper/lower body combinations make a lot of sense from a time-management perspective.
This week's exercise takes workout efficiency a step further. The Iso-Press With Foam Roller combines a core-training exercise with muscular tissue rolling. It's a cool way to address a couple of key areas in one simple movement.
1. Select a pair of medium-weight dumbbells and place a long foam roller on the floor. Holding one dumbbell in each hand, sit on one end of the foam roller.
2. Lie back on roller so that it runs directly down your spine with your feet on each side. Your knees should be up and feet flat on the floor.
3. Press the dumbbells up as you would during the "up" phase of a bench press.
4. Using your feet, roll your body to the right a few inches until the foam roller just barely reaches the inside border of your left scapula.
5. Stop here, then use your feet to roll the opposite direction until the roller reaches the right scapula.
6. Continue rolling back and forth as you hold the dumbbells over your chest in an isometric position.
7. One set is 45 seconds of rolling back and forth. Perform two or three sets.
I'd estimate that this exercise can save a minimum of 5 minutes compared with performing the two movements separately. If you multiply that by three workouts per week and 52 weeks per year, that's 13 hours saved every year. Whoa!
Matt Parrott has a doctorate in education (sport studies) and a master's in kinesiology and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine.
vballtop@aol.com
ActiveStyle on 06/25/2018