15 x 4 = 60

Something Pierini Fitness has said for a long time, in the context of middle-aged man fitness training is, “Something is better than nothing.”

Read more here:  Something is better than nothing

Reminded of this, I decided to put it into action on Monday and Tuesday, action-packed work days that had me sitting in front of my office desktop computer all day attending work-related continuing education webinars.

One of the things I’ve found effective as an “old man in training” is walking.  Not necessarily an only activity but part of a total fitness training curriculum.  And, on days following a very hard-core workout, yes, a stand-along fitness activity.   

What I’ve learned is how much I like a one-hour walk, done at different paces.  Some days, my walk is brisk and other days it’s relaxed and gingerly.  Regardless, an hour is an hour or at least the last time I did the math.

So, on Monday I wanted to get in on the action with an hour, or 60 minutes, walking, but knew it would be difficult to walk for one continuous hour given my education commitments.  That’s when I did a little math to solve my fitness training riddle for the day.

I decided to walk early in the morning before my webinar began.  Starting at 8:15 a.m., I took a brisk walk and was done 15 minutes later.

Then, during a morning webinar break, I walked again starting at 10:25 a.m. and 15 minutes later I was done.

For lunch, I planned on doing the same but other stuff got in my way. 

During an afternoon webinar break, I walked again starting at 2:30 p.m. and 15 minutes later I was done.

Finally, I walked one more time after the webinar concluded starting at 3:40 p.m. and 15 minutes later I was done.

All 15-minute walking episodes were brisk at about a 15-minute mile pace.

The next day, on Tuesday, I decided to repeat this math lesson, this time doing brief step-up sessions.    At four times during the day, I performed 4-count step-ups onto a 12-inch step kept in my office.  My approach was continuous step-ups done at average pace of 25 step-ups per minute or 375 total step-ups in 15 minutes.  Just like the previous day, it all added up to 60 minutes of exercise and collectively, 1,500 step-ups.

Well, by golly, despite being busy on Monday and Tuesday, challenging my ability to get in workouts during my preferred exercise duration - at least 60 continuous minutes - l still was able to get one hour, or 60 minutes, of exercise because 15 x 4 = 60.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum