Brett
Klika and Chris Jordan had shown that twelve 30-second exercises could be just
as effective as other, longer workouts, see our report “The Scientific 7 minute
workout"
But you
are still not motivated to get up from the couch.
Now, you
can get fit with only 4 minutes of exercise three times per week!
Extra Short Rounds of High-Intensity Exercise Improves Physical Fitness
in Inactive Men
Researchers
at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's KG Jebsen Centre for
Exercise in Medicine/Cardiac Exercise Research Group (CERG) have shown that a
single bout of short high-intensity sessions (AIT) performed three times per
week improves VO2max and can make for substantial differences in the fitness of
inactive men.
The
researchers measured changes in VO2max and traditional cardiovascular risk
factors in 24 inactive but otherwise healthy overweight men after they
completed a 10-week training session that involved three weekly high-intensity
interval sessions.
Participants
were randomly assigned to either
- a single 4 minutes bout of exercise (1-AIT, n = 13) or
- 4×4 minutes bouts of exercise interspersed with 3 min recovery (4-AIT, n = 13)*
three
times per week for 10 weeks
After
training, VO2max increased by 10% in Group A while Group B increased its VO2max
by 13%.
Both
groups saw decreases in their blood pressure, but the 1-AIT the group's blood
pressures showed greater decreases than their 4-AIT counterparts for both
systolic and diastolic readings.
"Our
data suggest that a single bout of AIT performed three times per week may be a
time-efficient strategy to improve VO2max", says Arnt Erik Tjønna, a
postdoctoral fellow at the center and lead author of the study.
Tjønna
says one of the advantages of this approach is that it is easy for people to
incorporate into their daily lives.
Tjønna says
while the results look promising, the number of study participants was small,
which limits the scientists' ability to extrapolate their findings. He also
noted that people who are active probably won't benefit as much as the inactive
participants did from the 1-AIT training regime.
###
The above
story is based on the May 29, 2013 news release by The Norwegian
University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The
research has been published in PLoS ONE: an inclusive, peer-reviewed,
open-access resource from the PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCE:
Tjønna A,
Leinan I, Bartnes A, et al. Low- and High-Volume of Intensive Endurance
Training Significantly Improves Maximal Oxygen Uptake after 10-Weeks of
Training in Healthy Men. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (5): e65382 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0065382
* 4 x 4
Interval Training
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