It’s not a workout… it’s a work-in. Just small bursts of movement that you can work into almost ANY kind of day. Seriously.
We know you’re short on time. Of course you are! You’re raising human beings. It’s a time-intensive job. We totally get it because we’re doing it, too.
And the good news is that recent scientific studies show that we don’t have to devote an hour or more a day in order for exercise to count and improve our overall health. We really don’t. Little things add up. They help. We have time for them because they don’t take much time — like a minute or two.
This article in the New York Times by Dani Blum says that “those who engage in one or two-minute bursts of exercise roughly three times a day, like speed-walking… or rapidly climbing stairs, showed a nearly 50 percent reduction in cardiovascular mortality risk and a roughly 40 percent reduction in the risk of dying from cancer as well as all causes of mortality, compared with those who did no vigorous spurts of fitness.”
A doctor quoted in this article from Prevention magazine said these new findings are a breath of fresh air for people who don’t feel like they have a chunk of time to set aside for traditional exercise.
So what kinds of things can you do to fill a one or two-minute burst of movement? Anything that really gets your heart rate up will work. If you can only say a few words during the exercise because you’re winded, then you’ll know you’ve found the right level of intensity.
10 possible options:
- Running with the kids or dogs in the backyard
- Speedwalking into a store after parking at the back of the parking lot
- Jumping jacks while waiting for water to boil
- Fast vacuuming
- Running up the stairs
- Planks or push-ups while playing on the floor with the kids
- Doing high-knee running in place
- Jumping rope
- Power walking while putting away laundry
- Fast song for a kitchen dance party
Here’s a post from My Fitness Pal that shows super-short videos of specific exercises you can squeeze into the nooks and crannies of your day.
The following video is 5 minutes long (with short rest periods built in), but you could do one or two of the exercises shown here anytime you have just a minute or two that you could stop for a movement “snack.”
