Keep fit in 30 minutes or less
ASK THE TRAINERS
Between parties and shopping, time is short these days. But that doesn't mean your exercise routine has to be second-rate. A 20- to 30-minute workout done at a high intensity can increase the heart rate and tone muscles equally as well as a longer workout done at a lower intensity.
"Who made the rule that a workout has to be an hour?" asks Amy Dixon, group fitness manager at Equinox in Santa Monica. "If people can wrap their heads around the fact that it's OK to do a shorter workout, especially if you do it right, that's all you need."
The key, these trainers say, is to keep moving. Taking breaks between exercises -- even short ones -- will lower the heart rate and not provide as much calorie burn. While some of these routines require equipment such as cardio machines or light weights, you can easily make your substitutions. Run at a nearby track, park or playground and use stairs and bars for exercises such as pull-ups. Use soup cans for weights. And scale back or increase the level of intensity according to your fitness level. No need to be a superhero -- or a slug -- just because it's the holidays.
Angela Stovall
Master trainer at 24 Hour Fitness in Chino
We'd start with five minutes of cardio, and that could be on a machine such as an elliptical trainer, a stair climber or a treadmill. If you're exercising first thing and using this as a warm-up, do it at a low intensity. If you're already warmed up, choose a moderate to vigorous intensity that gets your heart rate up.
Then do walking lunges for five minutes. This uses all the leg muscles, is a great fat burner and gets your heart rate up. You're also using your core. If you're a beginner, do stationary lunges, holding onto a chair if necessary. After doing 10, alternate between those and 10 ab crunches. Do three sets of each.
Get on the treadmill for five minutes at 3.5 miles per hour (or a moderately fast pace -- not a slow walk). At the same time, do biceps curls and shoulder presses with light weights (3 to 5 pounds), or no weights. When you do this while you're moving, you get a better calorie burn and you're toning the muscles. You should always concentrate on your form. For beginners, only do this if you're comfortable on the treadmill, and slow the speed if necessary.
Next, go to a mat and do push-ups -- straight-legged if you're advanced, or on your knees if you're not. Do 10 to 20 depending on how conditioned you are. Alternate those with triceps bench dips on a chair, also doing 10 to 20. Do three sets of each.
