Good News For Your Exercise Resolution!

For those of you who have made resolutions to get into better shape good news comes from the American Journal of Health Promotion.  One of the biggest deterrents to individuals successfully keeping their New Year's resolutions to exercise and be healthier is that they don't have the time to commit to 30-60 work out sessions.  A new study found that several 10 minute bouts of moderate to intense activity gave similar results as longer workouts.

"Regular exercise not only benefits a person’s health, it can improve their overall quality of life. But one of the biggest barriers to getting people moving is their attitude about exercise."

“A person’s attitude or beliefs can hold them back from being active,” said Loprinzi.  “Our findings are particularly informative as an individual who perceives him or herself to be too busy to be active may still be able to enhance their healthy by adopting an active lifestyle approach.”

"Despite the importance of physical activity, many people feel they don’t have enough time to exercise. An active lifestyle that includes engaging in physical activity for less than 10 minutes multiple times a day can have the same health benefits as more structured exercise."

“There were little differences in levels of health outcomes between those who received moderate to intense levels of physical activity in 10 minute bouts or longer compared to those who were physically active in shorter bouts of activity,” said lead author Paul D. Loprinzi, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of exercise science at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. “This suggests that shorter bouts of about activity of 150 minutes a week may be just as beneficial as engaging in fewer bouts of longer duration.” 

"Multiple bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity lasting less than 10 consecutive minutes had similar improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and other health measures as people who engaged in structured exercise for longer periods."

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