| In: Exercise

Benefits of Fast, In-a-Rush, Express Workout Exercise Programs

Perhaps the biggest excuse for not exercising is lack of time. So what if you could get a fast workout, an express exercise session that lasted as little as 15 minutes? In the last several years, gyms and health clubs have been catering to the overscheduled with such “express programs” aimed at maximizing their clientele’s limited time. The moment you walk in the gym, they aim to take the 15 to 30 minutes you can spare, and to give you a precisely tailored exercise regime that will whip into shape in as little time as that.

The rush workout exercise program originated in health clubs including the Curves International chain of women’s health clubs. It involved a 30 minute rush program; you came in and fled from one exercise device to the next in record time, to give yourself a well-rounded workout in no time at all. Pretty soon everyone else caught on; the national fitness chains 24 Hour Fitness, Xpress Zone, and Town Sports International, a regional chain, whipped up the express 22 minute workout exercise regimes, and pretty much everyone else followed suit. The idea has been so successful that even the traditionally slow wellness concepts of yoga and spinning have caught on with 30 minute sessions. If they feel that they can’t give you your money’s worth in an all-around program in the time, they often offer you short sessions that focus on certain parts of the body that you need to train, your tummy, your legs and so on.

The rush workout idea is predictably popular; not least because people pay to exercise, and would rather spend as little time in the gym as humanly possible. Quickie workout exercise sessions aren’t just for the busy executive; they are also for people who just can’t stand the idea of exercising, and would at least come in for a little something if they were promised that it would not last long. It can also be a great idea for people who have never exercised, and would like to start off slowly.

If this seems like an idea of its times, would it surprise you to know that the express workout exercise idea was born way back in the 1990s, before we were addicted to iPhones, Blackberry and laptop computers and the 24/7 work schedules they encourage? Gyms would advertise programs that promised to help you hop from one machine to another, all in record time. The idea wasn’t popular back then. Today, it is an idea whose time has come. The idea makes sense, when seen in light of the recommendation of the Surgeon General that people need at least a 30 minute workout each day. More would be better, but this would be the absolute minimum required for a reasonable level of health.

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