Does exercise add up?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Lately I’ve been reading about how sitting all day is very bad for you (duh!) And at my job, I sometimes (not always) sit all day at my desk.

But I’ve also read that exercise is cumulative. For example, 15 minutes on the treadmill in the morning + 15 minutes on the treadmill in the evening = 30 minutes total, as in those two 15 minutes sessions are as good as doing 30 minutes once. Is this true?

Also, I’ve been doing laps about once an hour (work permitting) - a couple of times around the building on the inside. It only takes maybe 5 minutes. I do feel better, it stretches my legs out, so in that way, it’s a good thing. But do those 5 minute sessions add up? As in, can I skip my 30 minute treadmill workout if I’ve done my laps 6 times that day?

2

Back when I was taking aerobics classes, they said that there was a minimum amount of time that you had to get your heart rate up to the proper tempo in order to achieve the proper effect, kind of like having to drive your car around for a while to recharge the battery: if you just get it up to, say, 140 bpm for five minutes, three times a day, that’s not the same as getting 15 solid minutes of exercise at 140 bpm. At the very least, you’re teaching your body that all it needs to sustain is 5 minutes of that rate of exercise, and that’s not enough time to tell your body to start burning fat, because that’s a lot of work: your body has plenty of sugar on hand to see you through five minutes of exercise, and that’s easier to replenish than fat.

3

First, doing “something”, whatever you can fit into your schedule, is better than doing nothing. So though the answer to your “cumulative exercise” may not be what you want to hear, please don’t let this dissuade you from exercising.

15 minutes on the treadmill + 15 minutes on the treadmill = 15 minutes on the treadmill + 15 minutes on the treadmill. But is not the same as 30 minutes on the treadmill (in one session). The best example would be the difference between jogging 1 mile, then taking a long break, 26 times vs. running a marathon.

From a purely physics sense, the amount of “displacement” is equal. But the difference is that after those first 15 minutes, your body is now working with “15 minutes less” energy than when you started. Having a big break in between sessions allows your body to recuperate. So the 2nd 15 minute session is like starting fresh.
It’s when you push your body past its “comfort limit” (whereever that is) that you start to gain the benefits of the exercise: your muscles get stronger, your lungs fill more, etc…

Starting slow is definitely the way to go. But if you can start to adjust your schedule to allow for longer sessions, you’ll see more benefit than just doing the shorter sessions.

4

I have always believed that of frequency, duration, and intensity it’s the intensity of the workout that gets one into shape. You can exercise twice as often or twice as long without the same benefit that you’ll get from exercising twice as hard. The trouble with that is that inexperienced people can injure themselves trying to do a really intense workout.

5

Also, regarding the five-minute walks a few times a day… there are studies coming out now saying that sitting at our desks is killing us, and we need to get up and do something every once in a while. I haven’t ready too many of the articles, but the cure seemed to be just walking for five minutes, and in those cases, walking for 15 minutes wouldn’t necessary give you three times as much benefit for that specific problem, i.e., and it wouldn’t count as all the walking for the day. You’d still need to take a walk a couple more times, spaced a few hours apart.

6

aerobic, strength building and movement/flexibility might come from different exercise types and durations.

7

If you’re at a computer, you need a 5-10 minute break each hour anyway. In Europe the length is legally unspecified but 5-10 is about right.

I guess, if you really want to, you can call walking around for 5 minutes ‘exercise’ but it’s not … exercise. It’s ‘taking a break’, or ‘going to the toilet’.

tbh, you don’t sound like proper exercise is something you’re desperate to embace.

8

FWIW. Perhaps of interest here. The Post’s infographics department tested 12 exercises for a week to see which ones real people could incorporate into a workday. These moves were recommended by experts whose jobs involve studying motion, preventing obesity and generally getting people off their duffs.

9

Great link, janeslogin! I really like the animations. In one move, the guy’s shirt comes out of his waistband and you can see his belly a bit. Very realistic! :smiley:

There’s a link underneath to go to a printable PDF of moves. I think I might try to do this during Lent!