Articles written by Devin Sherrington about health, wellness and fitness in regular column called Fit to Be Tried in the Daily News:

The Daily News - Fit to Be Tried by Devin Sherrington

Being a fitness trainer is a lot like bartending. I hear complaints about love lives, love handles, carbohydrates, and work stress. And the biggest complaint is lack of free time.

Fitting in time to exercise is tough, even for the most dedicated.

Everyone is working longer hours to make ends meet. And no one wants to spend precious free hours in the gym. There are still easy ways to become fit without becoming a gym rat.

First, more is not necessarily better when it comes to working out. Working out for too long just over-trains your body and your mind.

When we see Halle Berry on television talking about her strict diet and five hour long workouts, we think, "I should do that too." But, no body can handle that kind of workload day in and day out.

Halle's job is looking fit and dieting. Poor girl. In reality the best thing you can do is work out for 45 to 55 minutes, go home, eat a well-balanced meal and let your body recover.

Second, working out five or six days a week is just too much. Your body needs a recovery period 24 to 48 hours to repair and adjust.

If you overdo your workout your body will begin to break down, and you won't see any improvement. You should spend no more than four days a week in the gym training, and often three is better.

So if we say four sessions a week at 45 minutes a session, then you're only looking at 180 minutes, or three hours, a week. Three hours over the course of a week isn't much. You're likely spending that much time watching TV some nights. I know my wife and I do.

Make a short-term goal for yourself. Mark your completed workouts on the calendar, including the length of time, the type of workout etc. Keeping the calendar near the fridge works best.

It'll seem tough at first, but in a few weeks you'll feel more rested when you get up in the morning and have more energy all day long.

And all this comes from only three hours in the gym and a little dedication. So drop the remote, grab your MP3 player and get moving.