The Benefits of 29 Minute Exercise Sessions

You’ll never workout for an hour again!

Work smarter, not harder to attain your dreams

If you think exercise has to be long, arduous and cost lots of precious time, I'd like to offer some suggestions and give a few reasons why less is actually more. It's a fast-paced life we live in, an hour is a precious thing. For the majority of the population, working out for an hour is nearly impossible. It’s nearly impossible to schedule, nearly impossible to get excited about and nearly impossible to complete. Schedule 29 minute exercise sessions for yourself and be amazed at how easy it is to change your life.

Exercise is a tough habit to maintain. Life changes on a day to day basis. People travel, some have kids to care for and some would rather not allocate yet another hour each day to "working" in any capacity. Don't set yourself up for failure by trying to hit a grand slam on the first day; start by setting some reasonable goals that you'll feel good about actually accomplishing this time. Schedule 29 minute exercise sessions for yourself and be amazed at how easy it is to change your life.

There's an archaic philosophy in some gyms that you have to workout for at least an hour to see results. It might be because most gym trainers charge by the hour, and so they string the session out so the client feels like they got their money's worth.

In reality though, the 1 hour workout is actually more like 2 once you change clothes twice and drive to the gym both ways. Schedule 29 minute exercise sessions for yourself and be amazed at how easy it is to change your life.

A 29 minute training session is better for the following reasons:
1.) It isn't intimidating. An hour is a long time to do any thing, much less something that requires a significant amount of energy. Scheduling 29 minutes is much more realistic.
2.) It’s less expensive. If you do hire a trainer, half an hour of his or her time will be less costly than a full hour.
3.) It’s easier to replicate day after day and week after week. If you break it down, 29 minutes is less than one prime time TV show, or 2 fifteen minute coffee breaks pushed together.

Don't choke on your first bite. For example, don't run so far on Monday that you can't exercise again on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. You can't run off 10 pounds in one day. (Yes, believe me, I've tried.) You'll end up wearing down your muscles, joints and mind. Pushing yourself too hard on day 1, so that you're too tired to resume any exercise until day 4 isn’t a plan, it's a punishment. The transition from fat to fab actually comes after the workout, as your body recovers, so make sure you leave enough energy in the tank to heal. Healing requires energy too.

The truth is that most people aren't physically prepared to jump in and see significant gains right off the bat. Most people are "de-conditioned", which means that they are currently so out of shape, that pushing themselves too hard in the beginning will literally hurt them.

I know about 10 people who have started P90X, and not one of them stuck with it long enough to get the beach body that was advertised. In fact 4 of the 10 people got hurt in the process and had to stop exercising completely. Instead of starting your program with "P90X" or "Insanity," start with the basics and crawl before you walk, or else you might actually be crawling.

Just remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. One great workout on its own will not get you to your goal, rather a weeks worth of good workouts on top of another weeks worth of good workout is what brings dreams down the pipeline.

Written by Daniel Crouch, True Balance Health and Wellness
Personal Trainer & Wellness Guide.