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All About Micro-workouts

Less than half of Americans get the recommended minimum for physical activity, 150 minutes of moderately-intense exercise. That said, no activity is a waste of time, even small spurts all add up and offer health benefits. Some is better than none.

And that leads us to a current trend known as the micro-workout, also known as a mini training session. Think of a micro workout as an exercise ‘snack’. Snacks, if well planned and nutritious, help to bridge gaps in the diet and contribute to overall nutrient needs. They are, essentially, small meals. Micro-workouts are exercise bouts that last at least 20 seconds but typically less than 10 minutes. Knowing you can get through a session in a few minutes is motivating.

Intense exercise spurts of 20-60 and up to 3-7 minutes at a time, offers huge benefits. Any movement you can comfortably maintain for 30 seconds, engages large muscle groups and gets your heart rate elevated can be a micro-workout.

What to do? A quick walk, using a step bench, or performing calisthenics (jumping jacks, squats, lunges, step-ups, push-ups) are all options. A four-minute micro-workout might look like this: 25 seconds: jumping jacks, 25 seconds: body weight squats, (doesn’t have to be high-impact to be vigorous), followed by 10 seconds of rest (or take the rest in-between sets.

The greatest health benefits are seen in those logging 15 minutes per day of micro-workouts. Setting aside 4-5 minutes per day of vigorous intermittent exercise, however, may lower your risk of developing cancer. Other benefits of doing 10-minute micro-workouts 3x/wk include improvements in insulin resistance, increased endurance and lower blood pressures. Even taking quick walks (a couple of minutes every 30-60 minutes) puts you ahead of the game.

Breakfast for Better Health

For breakfast eaters and skippers alike…there are so many healthy options for breakfast, small to hearty. Why eat breakfast at all? According to a meta-analysis of research studies published in the journal ‘Obesity Research & Clinical Practice’ in 2020, skipping breakfast is associated with overweight/obesity and skipping breakfast increases the risk of becoming overweight/obese.

Results are consistent. Breakfast eaters have a decreased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease. Breakfast eaters typically enjoy higher energy levels throughout the day as well as cognitive performance.

In fact, research also shows that healthy adults that eat breakfast have an advantage over breakfast skippers in terms of memory (especially with delayed recall). Similar benefits were seen in breakfast eaters in the areas of attention span/attentiveness, motor function and decision making.

5 Creative breakfast suggestions

1. Hot bulgur: cook bulgur according to package directions (much like oatmeal and other whole grains). Serve with 1/4 chopped apple, 1 TB raisins or currants and chopped pecans as well as a small amount of maple syrup (try 1o-2 tsps first) and 1/3 cup hot milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

2. Whole wheat toast with 1 TB peanut butter and sliced banana

3. A smoothie, try blending frozen/fresh fruit with Greek yogurt and a splash of milk

4. Fried egg with Canadian bacon or turkey bacon on a whole-wheat English muffin. Top with fresh spinach or arugula.

5. Breakfast Fruit Wrap: Top a medium-sized whole-wheat or corn tortilla with 2 tsp all-fruit preserves, 2 TB reduced-fat ricotta cheese, 1/3 to 1/2 cup sliced strawberries and 2 TB toasted almonds. Roll up, tucking in the tortilla at the sides.

Plank Variations: Stability Ball

Plank exercises are popular for working the core because they engage so many different muscle groups and help to strengthen supporting (hip, spine) muscles. Of course, the prime mover muscles for planks include the major muscles of the front of your core, the transverse/rectus abdominis and oblique muscles. Your upper body muscles, such as the deltoids, lats, traps and triceps, get a workout as well.

With proper positioning, you will controct your quadriceps to keep your knees straight and tuck the pelvis in, engaging the glutes. Incorporate the stability ball to add instability, working your core at a deeper level. Beginners can try stability ball planks on the knees or take it further with the kneeling ABC’s.

For more advanced exercisers, a straight leg stability ball plank, or the prone ABC’s exercise, might be a challenging upgrade from a traditional plank.

Side planks target the oblique muscles. Feet stacked you can rest on the knees (for beginners), do the straight-leg version or add that element of instability with a bosu trainer or stability ball.