It's hard to find the time to exercise, so being as efficient as possible is important to all of us. If you could burn more calories in the same amount of exercise time just by taking a break in the middle, would you do it? Because that's what recent research in Japan found -- people get a calorie-burning and fat-metabolizing boost when they take a 20 minute break in the middle of a one hour workout session, as compared to working out for one hour straight without a break.

Although it does add 20 minutes to the overall workout time I have no problem putting my feet up and catching my breath -- and I'm sure I can find something I can cross off my to-do list during that down time, like paying a few bills or something.