Of course, there are some caveats. To get results from such a short workout, you have to push yourself hard, Gillen says. Many studies have shown that intense interval training protocols can yield results from relatively short training. Gillen of McMaster University and her colleagues wanted to know how short the training was.
The answer from their 2016 study was a one-minute strenuous exercise in a workout that lasted a total of 10 minutes (including warm-ups and cool-downs) three times a week.
Gillen’s team randomly assigned participants to three groups. One person rode an exercise bike three times a week for 45 minutes with a moderate level of effort. The second group trained three times a week for 10 minutes, including three segments of 20-second sprint cycling, with each training for a total of 1 minute of high-intensity training. (The rest of the time rotated easily.) The third group acted as a control and did nothing.
After 12 weeks, both exercise groups improved insulin resistance and fitness (measured by their ability to use oxygen during exercise) also improved by about 19%. The group with short training at high-intensity intervals spent only about 22% of the exercise in the group with longer training than before, but the gain was similar between the groups.
Similarly, in a 2020 study by researchers at the German university hospital Arangen, 65 sedentary obese volunteers had five 1-minute seizures at 80-95% after warming up for 2 minutes on an exercise bike. I participated in an exercise program to do. Maximum heart rate, during which a simple pedaling recovery period of 1 minute. With a 3-minute cooldown, the total training time was 14 minutes, and these trainings were performed twice a week for 12 weeks. Participants in this simple 28-minute weekly program improved their VO2max score (a measure of cardiovascular fitness) and also reduced blood pressure and waist circumference.
The improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness seen in these studies are strong predictors of reduced morbidity and mortality risk, and are especially important for people at risk of developing diabetes and other metabolic conditions, eastern children. Louise de Lanoy, a hospital exercise physiologist, said the Ontario Institute.
Still, the strength needed to achieve the benefits of short workouts requires some courage.
“It can be very difficult to tackle that maximum effort, especially for those who tend to sit down,” says de Lannoy. This level of strength feels everything — you are working as hard as you can. “But that can be fun too. It’s quick and a little painful. Take a break and try again,” says de Lannoy.
Another 2020 study found that some people find it fun enough to continue these hard interval exercise programs. Matthew Stork, a kinetic scientist at the University of British Columbia, and his colleagues took a group of previously sedentary adults to the lab for short, high-intensity training on an exercise bike at 1-minute intervals. Participants reported that high-intensity seizures were difficult, but some participants enjoyed it enough to continue after the study.
“I tried these workouts myself, but it takes a lot of self-teaching to get up to 90% of the maximum,” says de Lannoy. That said, training with repeated hard intervals and shorter breaks can be more difficult as you progress, so even if the first interval is up to 60 percent, it’s the third or fourth. She says it may be close to 90 percent by the interval. If you don’t have an exercise bike, climbing stairs is another good way to get your heart rate up quickly.
“As a rule of thumb, we recommend that you take the time to build it,” says de Lannoy. “You might start with 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, increase it over time, and try to build towards 90%.”
Short workouts can build muscle
It’s not just aerobic exercise that gets shorter. Studies show that short-term strength training can significantly improve your strength.
A 2019 study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise investigated the correlation between the number of exercises performed and the increase in strength.
Participants in the study performed a similar routine of strength training three or seven times a week. One group did 5 sets of exercises in each session, another group did 3 sets, and the 3rd group did only 1 set of exercises per workout. By the end of the eight-week program, all groups had achieved similar improvements in strength and endurance. Doing 3-5 sets per workout gave people more time to exercise, but that wasn’t a big win. (However, the muscle size of the thigh muscles and elbow flexors increased significantly in the long-trained group.)
James Steele, an associate professor of sports and exercise science at Solent University in the United Kingdom and a senior researcher at the London-based UK Active Research Institute, is often skeptical because short training ideas are portrayed as gimmicks. But he says you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of time in the gym or have a lot of rep if you’re aiming to be stronger. Instead, it’s important to exercise until you reach a “momentary muscle disorder.” This is the time when another person cannot complete. Steele was part of a research team that published evidence-based resistance training recommendations that required a single set of 8-12 iterations for momentary weakness.e.
The Dutch company Fit20 operates a franchise fitness studio that specializes in this “minimum effective amount” training approach. It has a dataset of about 15,000 people who have participated in the program over a seven-year period, and Steele’s team recently used this dataset to model the progress of people’s physical fitness over time. Despite the minimal training (a set of 6 exercises 4-6 times a week), Fit20 members significantly improved their strength (about 30 in the first year). ~ 50% improvement) was discovered. ..
While the study shows that short weekly training can significantly improve muscle strength, Steele sets a twice-weekly goal to keep things going even if he misses a session. It is recommended.
The minimum effective dose approach is not just for the average person. A study by Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis, a researcher at Solent University and coach of StrongerByScience.com, a program that provides strength training backed by science, also works for highly trained athletes. Is shown. He conducted research on serious powerlifters and found that they also resulted in a substantial increase in strength while following a minimal effective dose plan.
Surprisingly, the powerlifters in the Andrew Rakis-Kora Kakis study trained with the minimum dose approach experienced little pain. “Their pain scores were very low, below 1 on a scale of 1 to 5,” he says.
Androulakis-Korakakis suggests, “Hey, you can see great results with far less than you’re doing now,” according to his research. The minimalist approach may not give the absolute best results, but he says, especially when considering the time-recovery trade-offs, there are more benefits.
Focusing on shorter workouts is not just a way to save time. It also helps you keep improving your fitness even if your life gets in the way.
Androulakis-Korakakis says, “The exam is approaching or work is going well, only a few hours a week.” Instead of feeling your strength and muscle mass suffering, looking at the minimum dose approach can help you continue to build your fitness.
“It’s hard to claim that you don’t have 10 or 15 minutes to find. It’s not just checking your email again or using social media,” says de Lannoy.
