I am an exercise nut, mainly to help my heart (born with a heart murmur) and my spine (ruptured a disc in lower back and then in neck). My docs told me I had to do aerobic exercise and weight training to remain mobile and working on my laptop as I aged. Wake up call!

Fortunately I discovered (with the help of a friend) interval training over ten years ago. Confession—I like doing aerobic exercise with my greyhound in short spurts (greyhounds run intervals with 30 second races), and I hate weight training, even for 10 to 15 minutes. I am willing to do aerobic exercise (three x weekly) and weight training (two to three x weekly) because it only takes 15 to 20 minutes.

Hey no more excuses that I didn’t have 30 to 60 minutes to exercise. Now I make sure that I put in my 15 to 20 minutes before dinner, and my reward is a glass of wine or beer with dinner. Lots of recent research shows that interval training is extremely effective.

Read a report on two recent studies.

Don’t worry, if interval training is not your style, and you have the time for more a more leisurely pace. Just make sure you get off the sofa and move!