Too busy for a full workout?

Try the workout of the festive season - short bursts of intensive exercises done at a leisurely pace.

Throughout the holiday season, we avoid visiting the gym. Between the stocking-stuffing, candle-lighting and party-hopping, we forget that it’s not just the tree that could use some trimming. Besides, there’s simply not enough time, right?

Try slowing down instead
A gym in Columbia district follows an unusual fitness philosophy: Slow down to work out fast. Clients are advised to come in no more than twice a week for sessions that max out at 30 minutes, which is how long it takes to complete five or six exercises. “It’s referred to as ‘slow burn’ or ‘super slow’.

Twenty seconds would be an ideal repetition. And hopefully, you’re not on any one machine for more than three minutes,” explains trainer Courtney Manuel, who boasts that she works out only once a week to maintain her toned, size-0 bod.

Although the pace is leisurely, the feeling is anything but.

Buckled in to burn
Inside the gym, our first stop is what seems to be a run-of-the-mill lat-pulldown machine. That is, until Manuel sits me down, places a strip of foam across my lap and whips out a seat belt to buckle me in tight. She directs me to put my hands into straps with hooks so that I won’t be able to grip the bar, and says: “I want to see continuous movement. As the weight stack goes down, what we want is a slight tap and then a direction change.”

On that first rep, I’m focused on pacing and keeping my breathing regular. But by No 2, it’s hard to think about anything other than the burning. By six reps, I’m at muscle failure. Next stop is the leg press, where I manage 10 reps before my butt gives up. And so it goes for a few more machines until my entire body is wiped out.

A superb strategy
Is super slow, a super-fast exercise strategy? Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise says, “If you’re fit and incredibly busy, it would work.” But for most folks he wouldn’t recommend it, as it can’t really be done on one’s own and isn’t functional. However, McCall says, anyone crunched for time should pay attention to the intensity of such a workout.

Compound exercises (ones such as wood chops that activate the upper and lower body) and circuit training (which raises the heart rate) are his standard suggestions for making the most of a quickie workout. McCall also suggests more walking.

Author of The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough (Workman Publishing, 2009), Sean Foy explains his 4-3-2-1 approach to exercise. It’s four minutes of High-energy Aerobic Training (HEAT), three minutes of resistance training, two minutes of core work and one minute of deep breathing and stretching. That may not sound like much, but he recommends it for someone new to exercise.

Feeling the heat
HEAT is based on the principles of interval training. Alternating every 30 seconds between marching and jumping jacks, or jogging in place and squat thrusts boosts your metabolism more effectively than longer bouts of lower-intensity exercise. It’s exhausting, but because it’s over so fast, it’s not too intimidating.

Then you go straight into the resistance work with your heart rate still elevated, so you get even more out of the strength moves, such as wall squats and push-ups. Then the core segment devotes one minute to your abs and one to your back. “It’s the quickest way to change your appearance, as it improves posture,” Foy says.

Set 10 minutes aside for stretching, which is the key to recovery and relaxation. And you don’t need to wait until you’ve nursed your New Year’s hangover to get started.

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