WITH EXERCISE, BREAKING ROUTINE INTO SMALLER CHUNKS CAN HELP / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

With Exercise, Breaking Routine Into Smaller Chunks Can Help

Longer workout routines can be intimidating. Trying breaking sessions into shorter, more manageable time frames

By Jen Murphy

July 27, 2015 11:30 a.m. ET

 Shelly Fireman, founder of Fireman Hospitality Group, works out twice a day. For many, that might seem extreme. But there are benefits to breaking up one long routine into multiple sessions. Photo: Jeremy Harris for The Wall Street Journal


Twice-a-day workouts might seem extreme if you aren’t a professional athlete. But there are benefits to breaking up one long routine into two sessions.

“Most of the world today has become sedentary,” says Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, medical director of Cheng-Tsui Integrated Health Center at Beth Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “Emerging research suggests that sitting throughout our workday could be detrimental to our health.”

Dr. Nerurkar notes that Shelly Fireman, founder of Fireman Hospitality Group, has devised a way to “incorporate exercise and movement into his daily life without interfering with his workday, and as a result is increasing his productivity when he feels that afternoon slump.”

Dr. Nerurkar acknowledges that many people don’t have the time, flexibility or financial resources to work out twice every day. However, she says, research suggests that small bits of activity, such as three to four 10-minute sessions a day, can be as beneficial as 40 minutes of exercise in one stretch.

“Psychologically, it can be easier to wrap your head around fitting in a 10 minute walk at lunch instead of a 40 minute training session at the gym,” she says. “Anything is better than nothing.”

She suggests taking the stairs rather than the elevator, walking during your lunch hour, keeping a jump rope at the office and even parking further from the office to get in extra steps.

Going for a walk in the park at lunch can be more energizing than a cup of coffee, she says.

For those who do start to break up their exercise throughout the day, Dr. Nerurkar cautions that there is such thing as doing too much.

“If you’re feeling fatigued, sore, experiencing excessive weight loss or becoming neurotic about having to fit in another workout, those are signs you may need to scale back,” she says.