The 7-minute workout at ANY time of the day.

Not enough time to exercise in your day? No place to exercise? I call "foul" on that concept. Here's what I just did:

It's raining today so I didn't feel like bundling up in the cold downpour to do my daily 30-min walk. (Most often in the year I train 2x/day: a brisk, hilly walk and some other training, like weights, core training, tango dancing, Exuberant Animal games, bike outdoors or indoors, etc). However, I needed to exercise despite the outdoor weather.

I refuse to even listen to my own excuses, so instead of creating a rationale why I can't get my exercise, I decided to solve the problem how I CAN do my exercise.

So I put on my iPod (I listen to radio podcasts) and I walked up and down my stairs. Muscles and physiology trained:

• quadriceps (front of thighs)
• hamstrings (back of thighs)
• hip flexors
• glutes (big muscles of my butt)
• hips (small muscles of my butt)
• calves
• ankle muscles
• feet (I was in socks)
• cardiovascular (heart, blood systems, and lungs)

I did 8 minutes. Only 8 minutes and I was breathing hard, muscles pumping. That's only a quick break in my otherwise busy (multi-project) day.

What's REALLY good is that I can do another 8 minutes again... and then again... and again today - all at times that I'd be needing to get away from the computer anyway*.

What's better, is that my cat really wanted to play - so for 5 minutes I held a 12-lb cat while doing the stairs. He purred, I climbed.

HOW YOU CAN DO IT TOO:

1. If you are at work, climb the stairwell for 8-10 minutes on a break, a few times a day. You won't really get sweaty but you will make a dent in your training for the day. 3 times and you'd done 30 minutes - plus, you are at work so it won't look like you are slacking off.
2. If you are at home, do this at home at any time. I recommend NOT doing it before bedtime, because it can jazz you.
3. If you have small kids (or a baby), this is a way to hold the baby and get some exercise... or put a toddler near the staors and play with it as you walk up and down. Trust me, if it kept a cat happy (notorious for losing interest), it will keep a baby happy.

You will find that your muscles will respond as well as your psyche will respond. Stair climbing will get easier and the little 'lift' will also keep you from snacking in the day as a pick-me-up.

How did this work for you?

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* Additional ways of making stair-climbing more exercise-oriented:

• go fast up and down - very cardio
• go by 2's at a time
• go up or down in a very w-i-d-e stance
• go up or down in a very narrow stance
• hold something in your hands or arms (cat, baby, books, weights, etc)
• do it with radio, music, friend or podcast: make the time go by quickly
• do deep knee bends when going up