Behold beauty of body-weight workout

Gym memberships can cost $10 to $90 or more a month and only around 18 percent of folks actually show up at their workout facility regularly. Looks like a quick 15-minute, no-equipment-needed, athome routine might be what you’re looking for.

Well, I’ve got one for you: the body-weight workout. It improves strength, balance, flexibility and stamina by doing push-ups, lunges and planks — and the exercises are modifiable to make them suitable for almost all abilities.

The routine:

1. Do eight push-ups from a straight-armed plank position or modified with bent knees or at a 45-degree incline against a wall or counter.

2. The lunge can be done by standing up straight with one foot 12-24 inches in front of the other. Shift forward, bending your front knee — keep it behind your toes — and lifting your back heel off the floor. Go as deep as you can. Need help? Hold

DR. ROIZEN

the back of a chair with one hand so you remain balanced. Repeat eight times.

3. Now for the plank: Get in a push-up position and hold, with your body lifted off the ground. Elbows are directly underneath your shoulders, glutes engaged and core tight. Or modify it: start in a pushup position. Drop your knees to the floor and hold your position. Or plank at a 45-degree angle against a wall. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Rest a few seconds and repeat the whole cycle two or more times.

Sleep for keeps

A study in Human Kinetics Journal found that only 3 percent of elite athletes say they get enough sleep and 71 percent of athletes fall short by an hour or more. I suspect that some age 50 and older who regularly get exercise are also sleep-cheated. After all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 70 million Americans have chronic sleep problems.

That can seriously undercut the benefits you get from being active. A study in The Lancet Healthy Longevity tracked cognitive function in almost 9,000 people age 50 and older for 10 years. The researchers found that folks who were physically active in their 50s and 60s but got six or fewer hours of sleep had faster cognitive decline than peers who were active and got enough sleep. And the short-sleepers ended up with no better brain function than study participants who were inactive but got enough sleep.

To improve your sleep, you want to manage your stress response using meditation, physical activity and, if needed, talk therapy.