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Dear Natural Health Solutions Reader,

It had to happen.

After 8-Minute Buns, 6-Minute Abs, and even 4-Minute Calves (yes, all of these exist on DVD and/or the Web), we have arrived at the omega point — the fever dream of all exercise haters.

The one-minute whole body.

But this isn’t some sleazy marketer’s fantasy. Rather, the conclusion that a person can get into reasonably good physical shape via one total minute of extreme exertion per workout session comes from a respectable and straightforward study.1

The title, while a bit wonky, tells pretty much the whole story:

12 Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indexes of Cardiometabolic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training Despite a Fivefold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment

Three Groups, Three Programs

Here’s how the study went down.

Scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, rounded up 25 relatively out-of-shape young men and measured a couple of vital markers of fitness:

  • “Cardiorespiratory” efficiency — basically, how well their bodies used oxygen and pumped blood
  • Insulin sensitivity — how receptive their cells were to accepting insulin. Cells that are relatively insulin resistant usually signal prediabetes or diabetes, so the more sensitivity, the better.

The researchers then divided the men into three groups, who would perform three types of exercise:

  • Virtually none — in other words, the same minimal-to-nonexistent routines these out-of-shape fellows had been doing
  • Classic endurance training — a moderate pace for 45 minutes on an exercise bike
  • An abbreviated version of interval training that consisted of two easy minutes, and then 20 seconds of flat-out effort, repeated three times, with 30 seconds of slow cooling down, for a total of 10 minutes on the bike.

Both of the exercising groups did their routines three times a week for 12 weeks.

At the end of that period, researchers found that while the first group predictably showed no improvement, the second two — mirabile dictu! — showed almost identical significant improvements in both cardiovascular and glucose control measures.

Evolution Explains Why…

While it may seem incredible that the far shorter time commitment could yield equally impressive results, from an evolutionary perspective, there is nothing at all odd about it.

Your body is essentially always asking itself this question: “What is required to survive in this environment?” If you stress it to the max — even briefly — your body responds by making sure you can ramp up to this stress level often and effectively.

That’s because it “believes” you desperately need this ability, perhaps to outrun hungry lions or to catch the speedy local game. In other words, it makes you stronger even if your “prompts” are of brief duration — as long as they are intense — because your survival seems to depend upon it.

The beauty of this sort of training, known technically as high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is that it works with virtually any kind of exercise. As one of the researchers put it, “The basic principles apply to many forms of exercise. Climbing a few flights of stairs on your lunch hour can provide a quick and effective workout. The health benefits are significant.”

But is it safe? Well, consider that a 2012 study found that among exercisers with coronary artery disease, those who did HIIT had fewer fatal heart attacks than those who did more moderate exercise.2

Bottom Line

As always, of course, discuss making significant changes in your exercise routine with your physician. But the fact that significantly better fitness can be had so quickly is (or at least should be) profoundly encouraging.

Since I began studying the many benefits of HIIT, I have changed my workout patterns dramatically. Whether I am biking, swimming, or running, I make sure to include 30-second flat-out efforts every three minutes or so, interspersed with more moderate exertion. At 61, I’ve never felt stronger or sharper, and I honestly think HIIT deserves a good deal of the credit.

Sincerely,

Brad Lemley

Brad Lemley
Editor, Natural Health Solutions

Citations

  1. Gillen JB, Martin BJ, Macinnis MJ, Skelly LE, Tarnopolsky MA, Gibala MJ. 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. PLoS ONE. 2016
  1. Rognmo Ø, Moholdt T, Bakken H, et al. Cardiovascular risk of high- versus moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in coronary heart disease patients. Circulation. 2012

 

 

Cover image by sportpoint / Shutterstock.com

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