Study shows you can improve your health in 60 seconds.
Would you much rather lie on the couch and watch Big Bang Theory than to sweat it out in the gym? Whether you love or hate exercise, we all need it to keep our bodies healthy. But, not everyone looks forward to an hour session before or after work. Many of us just want to get home and get comfortable. According to the World Health Organisation, 25% of adults are not active enough, which is worrying, because a sedentary lifestyle is one of the top 10 risk factors for death.
A quick solution that actually works!
The good news is that you don’t have to clock the hours at the gym to reap the many health benefits that exercise offers. A study in the journal PLOS One found that 60 seconds of intense exercise, three times a week could benefit your body in the same way as a 45-minutes session. The participants in the study improved their endurance, blood pressure, and muscle activity in only six weeks.
All or nothing
However, it will only work if you go all out. A relaxing stroll or a leisurely jog won’t cut it. You have to give it some stick, as if your life depends on it (imagine a T-Rex chasing you down). If you’re not knackered after your short exercise session, you were doing it wrong.
It also entails more than just running down the road at full speed for a minute. The participants were actually exercising for a total of 10 minutes which included warming up for 2 minutes, pushing themselves hard for 20 seconds, slowing down for 2 minutes and then repeating the pattern three times. You can extend the last 2 minutes with an extra minute, to allow for a 3 minute cool-down period.
It shortens your routine
A little goes a long way when it comes to short bursts of intense exercise. You don’t have to spend hours exercising to experience the benefits, and thus you can easily do it in the comfort of your home. Ilani Richards, a biokineticist from Pretoria, says that cycling, running, and rebounding (mini trampoline) exercises are all good ways to make high-intensity interval training part of your life.
“There are several interval exercises you can do at home, but one of the best, with the fastest results, is definitely rebounding exercises. You can enjoy a full-body workout with every jump. It improves your cardiovascular fitness, strengthens your legs, and your core muscles.” It also causes up to 80% less strain on your weight-bearing joints like your ankles and knees, compared to exercises like running and aerobics.
References:
Twelve Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indices of Cardiometabolic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training despite a Five-Fold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075
Physical activity:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs385/en/
Introducing the one-minute workout:
http://time.com/3633639/one-minute-workout-exercise
You need more than one minute of exercise a day:
http://www.outsideonline.com/2075041/one-isnt-only-number
The case for the 1-minute workout is getting stronger:
http://time.com/4311373/interval-training-benefits/
Interview: Ilani Richards via ilani.bekker@gmail.com