Good news for those of us who like to put our posteriors to use: sitting down at the right time will help you burn fat. To be precise, taking a twenty-minute sit break between two thirty-minute workout sessions burns more fat than powering through a single session of sixty minutes.

Japanese researchers tested seven young men who engaged in three exercise permutations: a solid hour of exercise and an hour of rest afterward; thirty minutes of exercise followed by twenty minutes of sitting in a chair, thirty more minutes of exercise, and then an hour's rest; and finally, an hour of rest without any exercise at all.

The two thirty-minute sessions separated by the half hour of blessed relaxation resulted in the greatest fat breakdown. Compared to the single bout of exercise, the second half hour also produced higher epinephrine levels, lower insulin, and lower plasma glucose. In short, if you time it right, a little time spent pleasantly on your posterior is all to the good.

Sources: Medline Plus
Journal of Applied Physiology, June 2007