[lowe]

with exercise i've found benefit as a function of time to be crazy non-linear. there's a much bigger difference between 0 minutes and 20 minutes spent exercising than between 20 and 40 or 40 and 60. so when i'm busy, i do what i can, keep it short, but never cut it out. i try to do something every other day at least. it clears my head and resets my stress.

i like to run. simple. no gym membership. no complicated/expensive gear -- only necessary investment is a pair of running shoes (runs around $90). best of all, you can exhaust yourself quickly: if you don't have much time to spare, just run faster* for less time.

* i wouldn't recommend taking this to an extreme. i knew a guy in college who'd max out the treadmill for a few minutes, sweat like crazy and call it a day. odds are that's terrible for you. (he also had an anger management problem...related?)

[kajecounterhack]

Hmm I'd recommend against treadmills if you can find a good park. Less boring, easier to stay focused, breath of fresh air, better for the knees.

[zcrar70]

The park is definitely the better workout, because the uneven surface also makes you work out all the small muscles you need to keep your balance. People who run 5 miles on a treadmill often get tired after 2 in the park. Best to run on the grass if you can though.

[nethergoat]

For those already in decent shape, here's a way to maximizing the use of those 20 minutes: high-intensity interval training (HIIT - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_trainin...). The basic premise is to alternate between maximum effort (sprinting) and medium effort (jogging) at set intervals. The key is that the sprints are anaerobic rather than aerobic. This type of workout induces a state of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, thereby raising your resting metabolic rate for about 24 hours.

Hop on a treadmill (or bike, elliptical, whatever), warm up for 5 minutes, then go all-out for 30 seconds. Jog for 60 seconds, then go all-out for another 30 seconds. Repeat the cycle 6-8 times. Cool down for 5 minutes.

Best bang for your 20 minutes. Do it just three times a week; add in lifting, normal cardio, etc. as desired.

[erlanger]

I'd like to add that I believe basic calisthenics to be superior to weight training for most people. Whereas weights are designed to exercise specific muscle [groups], I think that activities like sit-ups and push-ups work muscles in such a way as to deliver more real-life benefit. They certainly expose you to less risk than weight-training and can deliver a full workout without much planning, a requirement when using weights.

In my opinion, most people lifting weights do so for superficial reasons, (not that there's anything wrong with that). I feel more practical strength when using a conservative calisthenic workout than I do when I used to lift weights, although my physique was more impressive when lifting. Note that I had proper guidance when lifting weights.

[scott_s]

If you do a bodybuilder-style lifting workout, it will target specific muscle groups. But if you're doing squats, cleans, deadlifts and their variations, you're using many muscles, sometimes your whole body. The transfer is going to be the same.

You are exposed to more risk (I'm recovering from a minor strain in my lower back from deadlifts - I'll be more conservative next time), but I think in the long run, the rewards outweigh the risks.

[beza1e1]

Do you have an idea, how to do deadlifts and cleans without "professional" weights and without a gym?

Bodyweight squats are good. So are chin-ups, pull-ups, dips, push-ups, burpees and planks. I'd avoid sit-ups, especially if you hunched over your desk all day. A fun way to spice up the workout is "Parkour".

My workout is running a few kilometers to a selected tree, doing some of the exercises above and running home. Takes about an hour each. Three times a week.

[dave_au]

I've been doing this (other than doing it I'm unaffiliated with the site):

http://www.simplefit.org/

It's been good - it's a program of pull-ups, push-ups and squats with 3 sessions a week and a series of levels to work through. Pretty nice if you're busy, none of the workouts go past 30 minutes because there's a focus on high intensity in the workout.

Probably wise to take the guys nutrition advice with a grain of salt, since it doesn't see to be his main area of knowledge.

Other than that I run about 5km 3 times a week.

[scott_s]

Kettlebells. You can do a form of deadlift and cleans with them. Google for "kettlebell deadlift" and "kettlebell clean" to get an idea how.

[zcrar70]

I agree with this. If you're looking for exercises using body weight only, I'd recommend checking out Ross Enamait or Matt Furey, both of whom publish reasonably priced books with good workout suggestions.