If you lead a busy life, finding the time to exercise can be difficult or if you’re like me and you simply don’t like exercising then you’ll love this recent research into fitness that suggests that exercising just a few minutes each week can be just as beneficial as jogging round the park for an hour or so.
More gain for less pain! Sounds too good to be true? ....read on!
Professor Julian Baker from the University of the West of Scotland is at the forefront of this startling new research into fitness. His fitness regime involves short bursts with high intensity activity. For example you can run or step (anything that involves high intensity exercise) flat out for 30 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds. You then repeat this cycle 4 times over. Professor Baker’s research has found that pushing muscles to their absolute limit can improve your fitness. But what’s incredible about this fitness regime is that it lasts for only 4 minutes with 2 of them spent resting! Or put another way with only 2 minutes spent exercising!
Professor Baker recommends that you would need to do the exercises about 3 times a week and your initial fitness level will depend on how quickly you improve your overall fitness.
Current UK government guidelines recommend that we exercise 30 minutes to an hour a day of moderate exercise 5 times a week!
The data compiled by the University of the West of Scotland suggests that this type of training improves above and beyond the benefits gained from exercising for 30 – 60 minutes.
So how can a man or woman who is effectively only exercising for 2 minutes get the same or better fitness benefits as someone who exercises for longer.
One line of reasoning is that if you do short burst exercising you’re working 250% harder in terms of the intensity of the exercise than say a jogger. The exercise for the jogger is much more gentles on the muscles where as the short burst exercises is pushing your muscles to the max, which has the maximum benefit on your fitness.
Scientists are still trying to find out why this type of exercise should work but they do know that exercising to the absolute limit is more effective in reducing blood pressure and widening blood vessels and strengthening muscles.
Depending on your initial level of fitness over a 5 week fitness period of exercising in short burst high intensity could result in a significant loss of body fat and loss of weight but could up your overall level of fitness by as much as 50%.
If you haven’t exercised in a while don’t start running, stepping or any high intensity exercising straight off. You will need to build up from a gentle pace and see your doctor before you start any exercise regime if you have any concerns.
I think everyone no matter how busy and hectic a life they lead can find 12 minutes a week to exercise!
To your health
Margaret x
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