FITNESS Why nibbling is good for you

Bite-size exercise


Personal trainer
Paul O'Brien

There is more than one way to skin a cat!’ A strange saying really. I’ve never skinned a cat and have not the remotest interest in knowing even the one way. Still, I heard it first as a young child, and the essence of it still holds true – there is always another way of approaching a problem or doing something.
So is there more than one way to exercise? Well, yes of course there is.
Many of us think of exercise as another time-consuming task to do on our daily list. Yet another chunk of time we have to take out of our already busy day. However, there is another way to incorporate exercise into your life. It involves being novel, innovative and playful. It does not mean a one-hour chunk at the end of your day, squeezed in between dinner and time with the kids or before your next task. I call it bite-size exercise. The theory is simple – look at every task you do during the day and come up with a way to incorporate exercise into it. Keep it brief, the exercise should last no more than 2-3 minutes and can often be 30-60 seconds.
For example, as soon as you get out of bed in the morning, perform ten press-ups. This should take you about 30 seconds at most. Or support yourself on elbows and toes for as long as you can (the frontal plank). Or instead of just walking woozily to the bathroom, take walking lunges instead. Whilst standing at the mirror brushing your teeth, you could perform 20 squats.
Sitting at the table or at your desk could be an opportunity to perform a set or two of chair dips. Even driving your car offers opportunities for exercise. Practicing good posture, deep breathing or even performing some abdominal contraction exercises are all possible behind the wheel, without attracting the attention of the local constabulary!
Other examples of bite-size exercise are about making positive choices – taking stairs instead of escalators or lifts, walking or cycling that half-mile to the local shop for milk instead of driving, dividing your lunch break between a 20-minute brisk walk and 30-minutes for eating lunch once or twice a week instead of always choosing a leisurely 60-minute lunch whilst reading the paper. Maybe you’ll even meet a park bench on the walk that you can do some step-ups and elevated push-ups on.
Then there’s your garden, your own private space for jumping around and reverting to your childhood play mode. Trampolining, skipping with the kids, playing tag or whatever.
The benefits of exercising this way are manifold – avoiding tedious routine, tapping into your playful side, providing a positive role model for your kids or others and maybe even catching the exercise bug, to name but a few. All you need is the willingness to give it a go, a little creativity and the ability to surprise yourself. If you’re unsure about exercise technique or want a little help, have a properly certified professional help – and away you go!

Paul O’Brien is a Personal Trainer and Life Coach and runs his own fitness and coaching business in Westport. He is the founder of Bootcamp West, a fitness program running in Westport, Castlebar and Louisburgh. For information about fitness training, coaching, bootcamp programmes and new TRX classes, email Paul at paul@bootcampwest.com or call 086 1674515. visit www.bootcampwest.com or e-mail paul@bootcampwest.com or telephone 086 1674515.