Web Chat: Can 10 Minutes Change Your Life?
Strike your Saturday Night Fever pose on a Monday morning. iStockphoto.com hide caption
Modern society has done a great job of engineering physical activity out of the day. Stuck at computers for eight hours or behind the wheel, it's no wonder we feel mushy-headed and lethargic. The '80s aerobics craze was one of the first big attempts to energize America and make us healthier through regular workouts. But it left a lot of people behind. So now, health experts are concentrating on getting people to squeeze exercise in to the classroom and office. It's called the "micro-exercise" movement.
Experts say these mini-exercise breaks do more than get your heart rate up. True, exercise can't make you smarter. But even after moderate exercise, the brain works more efficiently.
Joining us to answer your questions on exercise and the push for miniworkouts are Dave Spurlock and Dr. Toni Yancey.
Spurlock is a 30-year veteran of teaching physical education to kids, and now oversees physical education for the Charleston County, S.C., school system. There, he's trying to revamp old-style recess to make it less about winning the race and more about kids doing their personal physical best.
Dr. Toni Yancey of UCLA's School of Public Health is also a minibreak crusader. She says that even 10 minutes a day can be a trigger for more lasting healthy changes.