Guys! Great news! It turns out, there's no need to work out for, like, eons. Or even 30 minutes.
There've been a number of studies recently that indicate that short bursts of intense activity are at least as effective at reducing weight and increasing fitness as well as longer, less intense workouts.
For those of us who have slogged through marathon training, this seems like information that would have been helpful several hundred miles ago.
The concept, sometimes called High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), is the basis for the trendy CrossTraining workouts.
The NYTimes has an article this week recapping a study that showed that a high-intensity workout, done for only SEVEN MINUTES, "produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding."
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, Y'ALL!*
The researchers tested a series of 12 exercises which use only your body weight, the wall, and a chair. You're meant to do each for 30 seconds, with a 10 second rest, and by "high-intensity", they mean an 8 out of 10. Those 7 minutes are going to blow, but god. You can almost hold your breath for 7 minutes.
I am headed back to Zambia for 2 weeks, which is the perfect opportunity to try this workout in my hotel room. (My apologies in advance to the person in the room below mine. Please do not call security, that is just the sound of me doing level-8 jumping jacks.) Anyway, I will report back.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?src=me&ref=general
*Sorry. Side effects of a Friday Night Lights Netflix binge.
There've been a number of studies recently that indicate that short bursts of intense activity are at least as effective at reducing weight and increasing fitness as well as longer, less intense workouts.
For those of us who have slogged through marathon training, this seems like information that would have been helpful several hundred miles ago.
The concept, sometimes called High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), is the basis for the trendy CrossTraining workouts.
The NYTimes has an article this week recapping a study that showed that a high-intensity workout, done for only SEVEN MINUTES, "produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding."
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, Y'ALL!*
The researchers tested a series of 12 exercises which use only your body weight, the wall, and a chair. You're meant to do each for 30 seconds, with a 10 second rest, and by "high-intensity", they mean an 8 out of 10. Those 7 minutes are going to blow, but god. You can almost hold your breath for 7 minutes.
I am headed back to Zambia for 2 weeks, which is the perfect opportunity to try this workout in my hotel room. (My apologies in advance to the person in the room below mine. Please do not call security, that is just the sound of me doing level-8 jumping jacks.) Anyway, I will report back.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?src=me&ref=general
*Sorry. Side effects of a Friday Night Lights Netflix binge.
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