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Got a minute? Well then you can get the exercise you need. I’m Kimberly Walleston, with a
fitness focus for Insider’s Health News.
There will never be a lack of shortcuts and cheats you can do to get a beach body in no
time. The only problem? It’s all bull. In fact, most heart health professionals suggest
that you get 30 minutes of cardio for five days a week at the absolute minimum. But new
research into interval training has people rethinking what you really need to keep your
body beach-ready and your heart ticking strong.
Scientists in Ontario might not be the most obvious source of gym knowledge, but they’ve
been trying to think outside the box to get people healthier. A lot of middle aged men
and women have trouble staying fit because they lose focus or give up before they actually
get a sweat going, so the plan was to test out higher intensity interval training and
see if they could stick with the program. The exercise, nicknamed HIIT, focuses on extreme
effort for 30 seconds followed by complete rest. And while it worked from an exercise
standpoint, people were still bailing on the program.
It was this revelation that allowed the researchers to tweak their methods, using a lighter and
less extreme version of intervals that people might stick with. This time, they had the
participants exercise at about 90% for a minute and then rest for a minute, repeating that
10 times. The result? A 20-minute workout that produced the same physiological changes
as an hour-long session of steady cycling.
So what does this mean for you? Well it might be the perfect way to get your fitness goals
back on track. After extensive studying, researchers found a much higher success rate with the
intervals, with most people acknowledging that the shorter amount of time was more important
than the effort level. In fact, every single person that stayed in the program ended up
improving their cardiovascular health, blood sugar regulation, and even produced more oxygen
in their lungs.
So if you’ve hit a snag with your workout, maybe the answer isn’t a longer burn, but
a quicker one. Doctor’s Orders: spend less time in the gym.
That’s it for this edition of Insider’s Health TV. I’m your host, Kimberly Walleston.
And remember: it’s your health. We’re just helping you think outside the box.