Fitness in 10 minutes a day

Can you really get fit with just 10 minutes of exercise a day?

If you're sitting on the couch not doing anything, that's all you need to start losing weight, said Sean Foy, a California exercise physiologist and author of "The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough."

Framingham resident Hari Narayanan was a case study for the diet and exercise program and is featured in Foy's book.

In the 1980s, after moving to upstate New York from his native India, Narayanan put on a few pounds.

Well, maybe it was more than a few, he admits. In fact, the 51-year-old, who later moved to Westgate Road in Framingham, put on about 45 pounds within the first six months of relocating to Potsdam, N.Y., where he was studying for his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Clarkson University in the 1980s.

Because of the cold, snowy weather, he stayed indoors a lot, and in addition to getting less exercise, Narayanan said, he continued to eat the starchy, salty and fried foods of his homeland. And, he began eating unhealthy American foods like potato chips and drinking sodas.

"In India, I was very active in sports, and we walked everywhere," he said. "And in southern India, we have four seasons: hot, hotter, hottest and unbearable. If you eat those things in India, you'll burn off a lot (of calories) because you're walking everywhere and it's very hot."

While he lost some weight using Nutrilite diet products, which he learned about through his involvement selling Amway products, it wasn't until he participated in a research study with Foy, who also worked for Nutrilite as a trainer at the time, that he found a way that makes it easy for him to stay fit and trim.

Now the 6-foot Narayanan weighs about 197 pounds and is holding steady.

The bottom line message of "The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough," Foy said, is that we need to move more.

"What I found is that most of us know what we need to do, but we're not doing it," Foy said.

For many people, spending 45 minutes three times a week at the gym just isn't an attainable goal because of ultra-busy schedules. "When it comes to taking care of ourselves, we just don't do it."

So he went to work to develop a fast fitness formula for busy lifestyles. "I wasn't certain this would work," Foy said. But tests using subjects from several different countries proved that just 10 minutes a day does do the job.

"When we begin to move, we feel better, even if it is for a few minutes."

The 10-minute formula includes four minutes of high-energy aerobic training; three minutes of resistance exercise; two minutes of core-strengthening exercises for the abdominal, lower back and hip muscles; and one minute of stretching and deep breathing. It's what Foy calls his "4-3-2-1" formula.

"When done together, all these exercises provide you with a power-packed workout that maximizes your metabolism and fitness," Foy writes in the book.

"You can do these exercises anywhere," Foy said, and there's no special equipment required. "You can do it traveling, in a gym, at home. The key message is that we have to move."

People who are already exercising can also use this program, Foy said. They might want to kick up their routines by completing the 4-3-2-1 circuit multiple times to increase their exercise time.

Born in Orange County, Calif., the 45-year-old father of two teenagers said the modular program incorporates all the key elements of a complete fitness workout. The book includes photos and explanations of dozens of exercises you can mix and match.

In addition to exercise, the book provides outlines for healthy eating that are simple and require no calorie counting. It also includes stories about people like Narayanan who have used Foy's program to lose weight and keep it off.

"You don't have to give up any food," Narayanan explains. "You have to be sensible about the quantity of food and the timing when you eat. Now, rather than eating several big meals, I eat five small meals a day. I also drink a lot of water."

Now, Narayanan also helps coach others to lose weight through an e-mail group. His wife, and son and daughter, both teenagers, also follow the plan, he said.

"It is not an event," Narayanan said. "It becomes a part of you."

On Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. Foy and Narayanan will be on hand at Barnes & Noble, 1 Worcester Road, Framingham, where they will talk about the "The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough" and answer questions. Call 508-628-5567 for more information.