Exercise

Getting fit doesn't have to be time-consuming, according to new guidelines released last month by the American College of Sports Medicine. Ten-minute exercise bouts can significantly boost health, note the recommendations, which update guidelines issued in 1990. And when it comes to building muscle, performing just one set of weightlifting exercises (eight to 12 repetitions) is just as beneficial for most adults as a multiple-set regimen.

If you want to find out how athletic a family is, check their closets for sports shoes and equipment. Or you can open their freezer and count how many kinds of ice packs they keep handy. Injuries happen, as any active person will tell you. And for virtually any sports boo-boo, from a black eye to a sprained ankle, ice is nearly miraculous in its ability to ease pain and promote healing.

There are stretches, steps and spri-bands. But Maralyn Lozano's most important gift to the cancer patients in her workout class may be encouragement, and the assurance that exercise as well as a positive attitude can help heal. With 15 years of experience as an aerobics teacher and personal trainer, about seven years ago Lozano started working with patients at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian's cancer center in Newport Beach. Lozano, working with one of the center's directors, Dr.

Two drugs have proved effective in preventing asthma attacks triggered by exercise, according to today's New England Journal of Medicine. The drugs are Singulair, known generically as montelukast, a newly approved once-a-day pill made by Merck & Co., and Serevent, or salmeterol, an aerosol spray made by Glaxo Wellcome Corp. Asthma brought on by vigorous exercise is common. It occurs especially often when people work out in cold, dry air.

My father put on five pounds the summer after our cocker spaniel, Budgie, died. Without the family pet's need for an after-dinner walk, Dad stopped taking his nightly 45-minute stroll around the neighborhood. Within a few months, he gained the weight. I remembered this recently when I saw a friend who had been trying to lose weight for years and discovered that he'd finally managed to shed 10 pounds. How? "Got a dog," he said. "We walk three miles every morning."

There are just a few of us here tonight, circling the old dirt track behind Fairfax High. It's one of those languid evenings that didn't cool down until about 8, just as the clouds were streaking pink. We jog past the worn goal posts, past the noisy thumps of a fast-paced basketball game on the nearby court. Headlights sweep over us in staccato as cars zoom by the pudgy palms and lanky eucalyptus trees standing sentry on Fairfax Avenue.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was? --Leroy "Satchel" Paige * You know how many candles lit up your last birthday cake. But that number--your chronological age--may be very different from your physiological age, depending on how fit you are. Regular exercise can slow several key aspects of aging--such as loss of muscle and bone--allowing physically active adults to perform like someone much younger than their years.

Out exercising and need a quick energy boost? Try a bagel. Bagels provide the same amount of carbohydrates as the newest athletic food fad, energy bars, according to a recent study by researchers at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. And the researchers suggested that bagels are even easier to eat for athletes than the energy bars. Bagels have long been a breakfast staple, but their popularity has soared in recent years.

January is the month for New Year's resolutions, and with that comes sore muscles from ambitious workouts. Three professionals--a physical therapist, a nutritional consultant and a bodywork educator--talk about how to soothe aching muscles on your way back to buff. The Physical Therapist B.J.