Lunchtime can help increase fitness levels for time-poor workers

We can all give a million and one excuses why we can’t or won’t go to the gym but one of the most common reasons is time, says Edward Harrison of Vital Exercise.

When a barrage of statistics prove we are becoming fatter, more stressed, and less productive, it’s essential that we build more time into our already packed schedules for exercise, which is more easily said than done. The pressure of work to be more productive in less time, is an ever increasing problem for many people, but could introducing a 15 minute exercise routine into a lunch-break, a couple of times a week, give us the results we need?
 
Short bursts of high intensity exercise have been proven to be more effective than spending an hour in the gym and can even burn more calories than an average bike ride, added to the fact that the last thing many of us really want to be doing, after a day in the office, is slog out on a treadmill for an hour.
 
Rob Hale, head of fitness at Fitness First said, ‘it’s possible to smash out a workout in 15 minutes that can burn twice as many calories as your average bike ride; the key is to do short bursts of high intensity activity.’

Rob added, ‘Dynamic movement training is the cornerstone behind the scenes. To deliver those short sharp bursts it needs to be high intensity. Typically 85 per cent of your heart rate maximum or 8/9 out of 10 would feel high intensity.’
 
Edward Harrison, an advocate of resistance training and high intensity workouts, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the fitness industry, also acknowledges that while many of us are sitting behind a desk for anything up to eight hours a day, it’s imperative that we make the most of any time we do have available to get some exercise. ‘Using your lunch-break for a quick but high intensity workout will not only help improve overall fitness levels, individuals will lose body fat, optimise their cardiovascular health, build strong bones and add lean calorie burning muscle.’
 
Edward, who provides one to one resistance training at his private exercise studio based at Court Farm in Brantham, on the Essex Suffolk border, said, ‘this type of training puts significant demand on the body’s resources and recovery abilities. It takes time for the body to synthesize the changes brought about by this type of training. In its simplest form; you exercise, you rest, you improve. But the results are amazing. In very little time individuals can see the benefits, which in turn encourages them to continue, unlike traditional gyms and fitness studios where repetitive exercise, on an all too frequent basis, leads to boredom and lack of motivation.’
 
For more information contact Edward Harrison at Vital Exercise, visit vitalexercise.com.