Exercising in 1-2 minute intervals

monica182
monica182 Posts: 60 Member
edited September 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

I work from home in a sedentary job ie basically on my butt looking at a computer screen all day. I was trying to think of ways to increase my daily activity over and above my scheduled exercise which I am currently doing 3 days per week.

As of tomorrow I am going to start setting my alarm to go off every 30 mins during the day and jump on the treadmill to run at about 10kph for 1-2 mins. My question is if I was to log this exercise, would it be feasible to add up the minutes run throughout the day and log it as one run or would my calorie burn not be as much as I have spread it out over intervals throughout the day?

Any suggestions on how to log this (or not!) would be appreciated.

TIA!

Replies

  • lhague
    lhague Posts: 258
    Burning calories is really a sustained amount of increased heart rate. it wouldn't hurt to do what you plan, but I would not record it and just mark it up to circulation increase.
  • monica182
    monica182 Posts: 60 Member
    Thanks, your advice is appreciated! I think I will still go ahead with it and just not log and hopefully it will help keep my mind sharp throughout the day anyway.
  • lhague
    lhague Posts: 258
    Good luck, sometimes just a break is needed from sitting in front of a screen, your eyes will like the break too! :wink:
  • sydhager
    sydhager Posts: 3
    Is it possible for you to run on the treadmill 10 mins. three times a day? That is supposed to be equal to 30 mins. at one time.
  • monica182
    monica182 Posts: 60 Member
    Is it possible for you to run on the treadmill 10 mins. three times a day? That is supposed to be equal to 30 mins. at one time.

    Actually thats a better idea... why didn't I think of that! I'd still be taking the same time out of my day and getting more benefit from it :happy:
  • lhague
    lhague Posts: 258
    Is it possible for you to run on the treadmill 10 mins. three times a day? That is supposed to be equal to 30 mins. at one time.

    All sources I have read, talked to, etc. say the minimum is 20 minutes of sustained exercise. If you could do that, that would be the most benefit. Twice a day would be awesome. Not unreasonable to take a 20 minute break for every 4 hours worked.
  • Kreepy
    Kreepy Posts: 2 Member
    Hi There,

    I am no fitness expert but I regularly wear a heart monitor and find that even after a few minutes of cardio work, my heart rate is increased for some time after and I burn more calories in the 10 minutes following exercise than I do at my normal rest rate. I would have thought that any cardio exercise, even only a few minutes at a time, would make a big difference.

    I have done Interval training where I increase my heart rate for a few minutes and then do some weights to allow my heart to recover - this kind of sounds like what you are trying to do but in-between work sessions.

    I personally would count these session up and add them to my daily exercise.
  • lhague
    lhague Posts: 258
    Yes you do burn calories throughout the day. And when you get up from sitting and walk up or down the stairs, your heart rate will increase. All those calories are included in your daily calorie goal count.

    The American Heart Associations recommends a minimum of 20 minutes cardio to consider it as a workout.
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