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Slice the seconds
If carving out a solid half hour per day for a workout sounds daunting, consider this: Three 10-minute bouts of physical activity will also do your body good. "It doesn’t matter how you slice it, as long as you’re getting 30 minutes throughout your day," says Lauren Shuster, a Toronto-based personal trainer.
This could mean a 10-minute jog first thing in the morning, one at lunch and another after dinner. Not only will you keep your body in calorieburning mode, but you’ll also minimize the boredom that can set in from endless repetition.
Do double duty
Simultaneously engaging your lower and upper body during one exercise is a terrific time-saver. "Since you’re using more energy to perform the combined exercises, you’ll burn more calories in less time," says Pamela Mazzuca Prebeg, Canadian Living’s resident personal trainer and athletic therapist.
For a quick total-body boost, Mazzuca Prebeg recommends 10 to 12 reps of combination exercises, which involve similar movements of both the upper and lower body, such as standing squats with shoulder presses, walking lunges with biceps curls, and plié squats with triceps extensions.
Supersize it
Looking to torch some calories but tortured by the ticking clock? According to Mazzuca Prebeg, focusing on larger muscle groups, such as your legs, offers a quality, time-efficient workout, because you’re burning more calories in a shorter duration. Core conditioning is another way to slim down, especially with exercises like the plank.
"Core training is an efficient workout because you’re transferring energy from your core muscles throughout the rest of your body," Mazzuca Prebeg says.
Page 1 of 2 -- Discover even more expert advice about how to take your workout beyond the gym and turn everyday activities into part of your fitness routine on page 2
