The Reality Workout

At my fitness assessment, I'm wowing 'em on the treadmill. A committed fitness walker, I'm a blur on the paths at the park. Now, hooked up to a heart monitor and breath analyzer, I show my best style.

The woman administering the teats seems impressed. "You're better than a 15-minute mile," she says.

I smile smugly around the mouthpiece measuring the gases in every breath I exhale.

Pride dissipates, however, when the test indicates that although I'm a speed demon, my aerobic capacity-how efficiently I use oxygen in exercise-is nothing special. I am zooming past aerobic exercise (when I take in enough oxygen to give my hear and lungs a workout and burn fat) and straight into my anaerobic zone (when I can't take in enough oxygen to fulfill my muscles' needs).

Alas, that makes my workout more fitness-bluster than fitness-booster. In other words, I am fast but not particularly fit. And tearing up the park paths isn't the best way for me to burn fat-possibly why my beam is ever broadening despite daily workouts. To slim down, believe it or not, I might need to slow down.

As health professionals seek ways to get us off our couches, the good news is that research increasingly suggests that fitness programs can be effective when they're less daunting. While the aerobic exercise, weight training and diet techniques covered here won't win you any hard-body contests, they could make staying fit more palatable to the exercise-averse. Sometimes, less is more.

Aerobic exercise

Judging by the proliferation of punishing fitness programs such as Tae Bo and bruising basic training-type programs, lots of people have the illusion that if you're not busting a gut working anaerobically, then you're not working.

Some fitness pros think this is bad news.

"There's a heedlessness, a new generation of hard bodies thrusting out with these do-or-die aerobics," says Peg Jordan, a registered nurse, spokeswoman for the Aerobics & Fitness Association of America, founder/editor of the AFAA's American Fitness Magazine and author of The Fitness Instinct. "You have these classes that are cardio step holding weights on a bench. It's one of the things that doesn't work and is turning off eight out of 10 people."

When you push through your target zone to an anaerobic level, you start burning glycogen (carbohydrates) in the muscles, building up lactic acid and risking micro-tears in the muscles, strain and the potential for injury.

And while a higher heart rate does burn more calories overall, our own individual fat-burning zones burn the highest percentage of fat.

At 126 beats per minute, I begin working anaerobically, using glycogen instead of oxygen to fuel my muscles. But I routinely push my heart rate into the 150s. This may explain why, like many people, I exercise regularly but can't seem to lose weight-we may be burning muscle instead of fat.

With a simple mathematical formula, you can estimate your target heart-rate zone (see In the Zone, below).

Then put a new workout program into action.

More motivation: Keeping my heart rate down is a little tricky, and my heart-rate monitor-purchased at a local fitness store for under $40-gives me something new to concentrate on in during my workouts, revitalizing my stale program. While my new pace feels like a snail's at first, I will eventually be able to pick up speed while remaining in my zone. (For others, Jordan notes, working in the zone might feel like you're tackling a marathon; it depends on your fitness level, age, weight and what medications you take.)

Doing it right: You don't have to go cold turkey on hard-core workouts. Try three 20-to-60-minute workouts in our target zone and two 30-minute workouts in your anaerobic zone weekly. And don't forget to schedule rest as part of your fitness program, says Jordan. "Rest is an active component of a workout program. It's when the sustenance that is demanded by the cells is satisfied, when there's a cleanup of toxic waste material such as lactic acid, and when there's an in-flooding of nutrients, blood and oxygen. Even micro-tears in muscles repair during rest."

Kidding yourself: You can, however take it too easy. A 30-minute saunter three times a week is better than nothing health-wise, but don't expect weight loss.

Weight training

The rule of thumb in weight lifting is two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions each. But new studies indicate that one set with heavy weights can be equally effective. "It's really exciting news for people who have limited time," says Jordan.

Graduate student Chris J. Hass, at the University of Florida at Gainesville, recently released a report addressing this. For a year, Hass had one group of recreational weight lifters do three-set weight training three times a week and another group do one-set training three times a week. Exercises included chest press, overhead press, leg extension, leg curl, bicep curl, arm cross and triceps extension. The groups saw equal reduction of body fat. The three-set group saw greater improvements in strength-but not as much as you would think and not enough to make the additional two sets worth the time to the average person.

"On average the three-set group got 2 percent stronger than the one-set group," says Hass. "That's not enough to make a lot of difference in our daily or recreation life.." The greatest disparity between the groups was in muscle endurance, with the three-set group seeing greater gains.

"One-step training is not for everybody," Hass continues. "But it is a valid option. If your main goal is to be as strong as you possibly can, it's not for you. But if your main goals are improving aesthetic appeal, strength and endurance, as well as being able to carry out daily activities, it could work."

More strength: With one set, you can fit a 30-minute cardio workout plus an effective weight regimen into a lunch hour. And, says the AFAA's Jordan, you only need to lift weights twice a week to reap the benefits.

Doing it right: Start with at least a five-minute warm-up to limber up your joints. Then, says Hass, "With each machine you do, initially select a very light weight and do five reps, to get your muscles accommodated to the range of motion." Then choose your workout weight, and no skimping. You must work to failure-when you cannot do another rep.

And watch your form. "If you're distorting your posture," Hass warns, "then your weight is too heavy."

Kidding yourself: Don't waste time with weights that are too light. "You should be able to lift the weight between eight and 12 times," says Hass. "It shouldn't be that you stop at 12 but could do more if someone was there yelling at you."

Diet

Eat all day, it's good for you. Instead of three squares, try six little meals a day. "I like to look at it as three meals and two or three snacks, but the meals don't have to be as big as they would otherwise," says Barbara Gollman, a registered dietician in Dallas and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

More satisfaction: "Eating more often keeps you feeling full longer because you're putting food in constantly," says Gollman. "It also maintains a more constant blood-sugar level, and that ties into the feeling of satisfaction. When your blood sugar drops, that triggers the gnawing feeling that you're ready to eat and inspires binging."

Among the snacks Gollman suggests (all under 300 calories) are an apple with cheese, graham crackers with low-fat milk, popcorn mixed with one tablespoon of nuts. "I make a big bowl and eat it all myself," Gollman says of the movie treat. "It's very low in calories and very high in fiber."

Kidding yourself: If your snacks are drowned in butter, dipped in chocolate or adorned with Little Debbie's face anywhere on the wrapper, you're missing the point.

In the Zone

To estimate your target heart-rate zone:

1. Subtract your age from 220 if you're a man or from 226 if you're a woman to get your maximum heart rate.

2. Multiply the difference by 50 percent for the low end of your zone and by 85 percent for the high end of your zone.