Can You Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week?

This New York Times article Well: Can You Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week? asks the question:

Can humans increase endurance with only a few minutes of strenuous exercise, instead of hours? According to a growing number of these sports scientists the answer may be yes.

From the article:

“'There was a time when the scientific literature suggested that the only way to achieve endurance was through endurance-type activities,' such as long runs or bike rides or, perhaps, six-hour swims, says Martin Gibala, PhD, chairman of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. But ongoing research from Gibala’s lab is turning that idea on its head".

Gilba tested one group that had exercised for endurance for five hours a week and another group that exercise intensely for six to nine minutes per week. Results:

· Both groups showed almost identical increases in their endurance.
· Molecular changes that signal increased fitness were evident equally in both groups. “The number and size of the mitochondria within the muscles” of the students had increased significantly, Gibala says, a change that, before this work, had been associated almost exclusively with prolonged endurance training.
· Six minutes or so a week of hard exercise (plus the time spent warming up, cooling down, and resting between the bouts of intense work) had proven to be as good as multiple hours of working out for achieving fitness.
· The short, intense workouts aided in weight loss, too. “The rate of energy expenditure remains higher longer into recovery” after brief, high-intensity exercise than after longer, easier workouts, Gibala says.

It is interesting result concerning energy expenditure even though that was not the focus of the study. Intense exercise produces a greater Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) - you will burn calories long after the exercise session is over. High intensity strength training produces the biggest post-exercise calorie burn (This is the type of strength training we do at Kelly’s Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Ultimate Fitness Trainers). According to one study high intensity strength training produced a ninefold improvement in fat burning compared to aerobic exercise.

The article also notes that researchers have found that similar, intense, brief sessions of exercise improve cardiac health, even among people with heart disease. That had been previously reported in these posts:
· High-intensity exercise better at improving metabolic syndrome risk factors
· Strength Training for Those Who Have Heart Conditions
· Strength Training Shown To Lower Blood Pressure

With the right strength training program can increase strength, bone density, flexibility, and endurance all in one workout. It is a heart healthy form of exercise as well.