Why 15 minutes of exercise is all you need

IF YOU like using time as an excuse for not exercising, you’d better stop reading now. What we’re about to tell you will blow that reasoning out the door.

NSW Personal Trainer of the Year Jarrad Sullivan.

IF YOU’RE prone to using time as an excuse for not exercising, you’d better stop reading now. What we’re about to tell you will blow that reasoning out the door.

Jetts personal trainer Jarrad Sullivan believes you can get everything you need from 15 minutes of exercise — and having been crowned the NSW Personal Trainer of the Year, he knows his stuff.

“A 15-minute workout has a variety of health benefits, and can add years on to your life,” he explains.

“It’s busy-proof; there is no specific time of the day or night do to it, so you can just fit it in whenever suits you,” Sullivan says.

Here’s why 15 minutes a day works:

1. It burns a substantial amount of calories
2. It increases blood flow
3. It will boost your metabolism
4. It improves sleep patterns
5. It increases endorphin production
6. It reduces stress

This is what you need to do:

1. Choose 5 exercises — for example: weights, dead lifts, squats, chin-ups, bench press
2. Spend 1 minutes on each exercise, and go through this routine twice
3. Finish with 5 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), alternating between 20 seconds of maximum intensity and 10 seconds rest.

News_Image_File: These tips are for women and men alike.

Here’s why you’ll benefit:

1. Dead lifts — They teach you how to stabilise your spine, they also teach you correct technique for everyday tasks. They will give you confidence to be able to lift things from the ground such as heavy boxes. Dead lifts will also increase your flexibility and joint mobility.
Muscles used: Core, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluts and calves.

2. Squats — If this leg exercise is correctly done you will release testosterone which will not only benefit your legs, this will also offer benefits throughout the body. Very functional movement which helps burn more fat, great for joint mobility and balance.
Muscles used: calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluts and core.

3. Chin ups — One of the best benefits is the ability to strengthen so many muscle at once, again great functional movement.
Muscles used: Forearms, lats, biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, lower and middle trapezius and core.

4. Chest press — Great for increase in upper body strength and joint mobility. It can also improve flexibility and increase bone density.
Muscles used: Forearms, chest or pectorals, triceps, deltoids

News_Image_File: Interval training can be done on a treadmill.

5. Bench Press — Another good one for the pecs, the bench press is one of the most widely used exercises because of its effectiveness in muscle development — it will work muscles you’ve never even heard of.

Muscles used: Pectoralis major, serratus anterior, serratus anterior, anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, coracobrachailis

6. High Intensity Interval Training — HIIT involves short intense bursts of exercise followed by short breaks to recover. It’s a cardio routine and is super effective in burning fat.

More: The fitness trends to watch out for in 2014

Jetts is the largest home-grown fitness franchise in the country. For more information head to www.jetts.com.au