Kevin Allerston
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 27/05) - If you are like many Canadians, it's difficult to find time to be active, let alone make it out to a gym every day.

But that doesn't mean you can't stay fit.

Experts and health enthusiasts agree that when it comes to health, less is more - if the alternative is doing no exercise at all.

Glenn Peterson has been lifting weights at Break Away Fitness Centre since the mid 1990s.

He said you don't have to be at the gym every day to get in shape. A moderate program one can deal with over time is better than taking it to the extreme.

"It's better that you come here a couple times a week than five or six times a week and burn yourself out," Peterson said.

"Make it more of a lifestyle than 'I want to look good for grad,' or 'summer's coming and I want to look good for the beach,'" Peterson said.

Stanton Territorial Hospital physiotherapist Jaime Quantrell agrees that a more consistent and lighter exercise routine can be beneficial for those with little time to spend at a gym.

"It doesn't have to be every day. You can work out a couple times a week and still see results," Quantrell said.

A good routine, experts say, involves a mix of aerobic exercise, resistance training (lifting weights) and stretching, she says.

Aerobic exercise could include a 30-minute walk three times a week - anything to get your heart rate up for about 20 minutes.

In terms of weights, do what you are comfortable with: it's better to do more repetitions with less weight than more weight and fewer repetitions.

You want to be able to feel the exercise, Quantrell said, but if you can't hold up a conversation, you may be working too hard.

And that's no fun at all.