Ask a Trainer: If I Only Have 20 Minutes to Work Out, What Should I Do?

You know that exercise has a host of health benefits, so you’ve decided to give this whole “working out on a regular basis” thing a chance. The problem is, however, that life has a way of getting in the way your fitness goals. 

“If you only have 20 minutes, I think the best bang for your buck is using HIIT, which is high intensity interval training,” says Rilinger. HIIT is a type of exercise where you push yourself as hard as you can for a brief period of time, then recover and repeat (such as sprinting then walking, or running up stairs and walking down).

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Written by:

Brittany Doohan

Brittany Doohan was the Content Director at HealthiNation and is currently the Editorial Director at Medscape. Through her work with Medscape, she won a Silver Telly Award in May 2022 for "Sleepless Nation: A Public Health Epidemic — Episode 2: A Decade Without a Diagnosis." She has worked in health journalism and video production for more than 8 years, and loves the challenge of explaining complex topics in an easy-to-understand and creative way.

Reviewed by:

Brian Clista, MD

Dr. Clista is a board-certified pediatrician who works in private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He previously served as a National Health Service Corporation Scholar in the inner city of Pittsburgh for 11 years.

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