Some years back, my husband lost close to 50 pounds – and he’s kept it off too.  Nonetheless, he still has about 10 pounds of jiggly stuff left that’s been hanging tough.  It’s been a struggle…sometimes he manages to put a dent in it, and then – if he takes his eye off the ball – it comes right back.

My prescription?  Despite his good habits, he’s still not active enough to carve it off.  While he gets to the gym 4 – 5 days/week, it’s usually after work, when he’s tired and longing to get home, so his workouts have generally been shorter than they could be. 

How can a frantically busy corporate consultant find even more time to exercise?  Easy: by “bookending” the day.  Rather than add to his current gym time (which would make it too onerous), we added two shorter, cardio sessions at the very beginning and end of the day.

So now he’s doing a 30 min. moderate intensity session 4 days a week (M, W, F and Sat or Sun), first thing in the morning, and a 20 – 30 minute brisk walk at night, after dinner.  It’s fairly painless stuff, but it adds up to an extra 4 hours over the week.  Looks like it’s having an effect, too…  We’ve been doing this for two weeks, and the scale is starting to creep downwards.  He’s lost 2 1/2 pounds so far, with only some minor tweaks to his diet.

Ironically, it’s been good for me too…although I started doing it largely to motivate him, I have to admit – getting out to the gym and expending some energy at 5:00 a.m. is a real day-brightener… we chat, so a half-hour blows by pretty quickly.  Likewise, the evening walks are great for recovery (especially after a leg workout) and are invigorating, so we’re less likely to collapse into bed at night after a long day.  Thus, it’s win-win for both of us.

I’ve become a big fan of shorter, multiple workouts over the course of the day, vs. one, prolonged weights + cardio session.  They’re easier to get through, and are energizing, vs. draining.  And I think it’s easier to find 20 – 30  minutes, 3 times/day vs. a large block of time that – on busy days – may get skipped, entirely.

So, if you’re having trouble staying on track with your workout program, breaking it up into smaller, more do-able chunks might be a better way to go about it, vs. kicking yourself for not having more discipline.  Studies have shown that even sessions as short as 5 – 10 minutes can be beneficial to your health (and waistline) if you’re consistent about it.

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