Small Doses of Exercise Through Out Your Day Add up

Almost everybody thinks of exercise as being something that they have to do for a long period of time every day. Spending endless hours on the treadmill or racking up countless miles on the exercise bike takes a considerable amount of time and effort on our part. If we already tend to be busy as a result of family responsibilities and a heavy workload, it might be impossible for us to exercise in such a way. Fortunately, exercise does not need to be done all at one time in order for it to be beneficial. As a matter of fact, we can do short bursts of exercise and end up receiving as many benefits as somebody that does it all at one time.

Think of it as putting dollars into a piggy bank. Eventually, you are going to end up with $100 in the piggy bank if you continue to put the dollars in long enough. At that point, it doesn't matter if you put them in one dollar at a time or if you dropped $100 bill into the bank, the money is the same. This is exactly what happens whenever we exercise for short periods during the day. It doesn't matter if we exercise for five minutes, 20 times a day or if we exercise for 100 minutes, the end result will be the same.

Of course, there are some benefits to getting all of the exercise out of the way at one time but they do not necessarily outweigh the convenience of being able to split it up throughout the day. Once we get our metabolism going, it does help to keep it going to a certain extent. Unless we are doing high intensity interval training, however, this short burst of exercise that we will do throughout the day will benefit us just as much. As a matter of fact, it will probably benefit us more because we will be more likely to keep up with the schedule if it does not inconvenience us.

So make sure that you are getting your targeted amount of exercise, even if you have to break it up into small segments. It is the best way for you to be able to get in shape and stay in shape, something that far too many people have a difficult time doing. Get out there and do some exercise any chance you get.

Personally I find that this works much better for my schedule. I keep a set of kettle bells and push up stands in my office under the futon. Every couple of hours I do some lifting, squats or push ups. Partly to keep my metabolism up and to take a break from the computer and partly for the stress relieving benefits. (I set more unrealistic goals for myself than anyone else could!) Just before you take a break do a few crunches or push ups to get the blood pumping and burn some stress and calories!!


We posted a new article regarding talking to our kids about being safe when in an after school program and what to do in an emergency.

When parents sign their children up for after school programs, they take it
for granted that the child is safe. However, since the number of children
participating in these activities has increased, combined with staff cuts in many programs due to limited funding, it is necessary to look into safety issues.

Check it out at Safe Kidz.