Fitness Swellness: Take the short bout

You might think “How can taking this set of stairs actually help my health?” but a new study shows these short bouts of activity do add up and benefit you.

Research from Oregon State University found that short bouts (as short as one to two minutes) totalling 30 minutes a day is as efficient as a longer workout at the gym when it comes to preventing conditions including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Hear that? If you dread the thought of your Spin class or just haven’t fallen in love with Zumba, a few teeny changes in your daily habits could be as good for ya! And an active lifestyle approach is likely a whole lot easier to incorporate into your life rather than an hour at the gym.

Use the commercial break when watching Girls to do some crunches, and the next commercial break to hold plank position. Who’s with me?

1 Comment January 30, 2013

Get up off of your seat

Sit less and you could help reduce your cancer risk: new findings from a researcher at the Alberta Health Sciences-Cancer Care suggest that:

• 37,200 cases of lung cancer
• 30,600 cases of prostate cancer
• 12,000 cases of endometrial cancer
• and 1,800 of ovarian cancer

could be prevented if people were more active.

My latest motivation to get out and active? The flashy Nike sneakers I received at the Nike San Francisco Women’s Half-Marathon. Love the hot pink laces (they came with an extra set of black laces, but why on earth would I opt for boring black over these?!)

2 Comments November 7, 2011