I am have a question. If I exercise 20 minutes, 3 times a day, is it as affective as working out continuously for 60 minutes??? I dont think that it is, just wondered if any else knows. Do you really have to be sweating to burn calories? Also, is it just me, or is there no such thing as a gym for women only!!! This drives me crazy. I know its stupid, but the only reason I dont go to the gym is because I hate working out in front of guys. I would be a much more fit person if I could go to a gym, and not be worrying about what other people are thinking. (I am 20 and work out in my college gym.......when I get up the nerve). We need to get our gyms to have a women only night :)

Hi empink.

I have read in several places that breaking up an hour's worth of exercise into 10 or 20 minute increments is as effective, as long as you get your heart rate up.

I live in MA, and we have women only gyms here. And when I lived in AZ there was one or two there too. I don't know about your area though.

Good luck!

J.

Hi Empink...here in southern california there are some women only gyms...Im not one to exercise in public period (except for walking) so I understand what you are saying...as far as breaking up your exercise and sweating..what i have read about that is the answer is, it depends...if your goal in the exercise is to burn fat..it is much better to do it all at once...Covert Bailey calls this using LSD..Long Slow Distance..the first twenty minutes or so your body is using the carbs you have recently eaten the next 20-40 min your body taps the stored fat for fuel...if your goal is cardiac health, 20 min is fine..if your goal is burning calories, all exercise counts and is very beneficial..I just watched at tape this weekend where he talked about sweating vrs. not sweating..he said sweating is no indication of burning fat and you cant "sweat" weight away..you are only sweating water out of your body..people who use rubber suits, or go to saunas are not really doing anything that is going to help them in the long run..the LSD thing means that the longer you go aerobically the better your fat loss will be..the slow part means to work within your fitness level, because if you are working TOO hard the exercise becomes ANaerobic, and your body will stop using your fat for fuel..one indication of that is that you are working too hard to carry on a conversation while you are exercising....these are only things I have read..and also things that I find work for me..others may do things differently and find they work just as well..my source is Covert Bailey www.covertbailey.com (http://www.covertbailey.com) ..who has written books like Fit or Fat and also Fit or Fat Woman and also a book called Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell by Debra Waterhouse www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Thank you very much...that was very helpful info! :)
Empink