The Five-minute Workout

Cabin fever have you in its grip? Welcome to the five-minute workout. Do it for 10 minutes and you can count it toward the 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine.

As with any exercise program make sure you have your doctor’s okay to begin. Put on some lively music, set a timer for five minutes and hit start. Begin by walking in place while swinging your arms front to back. After a minute or so begin a modified jumping jack by swinging your arms across your chest while you step side to side. For standing crunches, bring opposite knee to opposite elbow, alternating sides. Next up, toy soldiers for a minute and then speed skaters to finish up. Before you know it five minutes have passed and you wonder why you haven’t thought of this before.

In the Tuesday “Fitness at Any Age” classes at the Senior Center, you learn lots of exercises that can easily be incorporated into a home workout. Studies show that even a minute of high-intensity exercise can have benefits.

Ginger Lambert is a personal trainer and fitness instructor. Check out her website for information on fitness boot camp classes for any level.