You don’t need an hour at the gym to get fit — research shows that short bursts of well-designed movement can trigger powerful health signals.
A common misconception about exercise is that it takes an hour a day and must be completed within the walls of a gym — false! This investment of time and money can deter some people from getting moving. Good news — you can now effectively squeeze in short workouts at your own time and location.
THE BENEFITS
Besides the obvious benefit of lasting only minutes a day, short bursts of intense exercise have a host of other benefits for the mind and body. The British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that “just 1.5 – 4 minutes per day of brief vigorous bursts — like stair climbing — were linked with much lower cardiovascular risk in women.” A study by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute states that “about a 12-minute bout of exercise altered hundreds of circulating metabolites linked to cardiometabolic health,” which includes improvements in insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular health and inflammatory processes. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) says, “Even single sessions of higher-intensity intervals can acutely boost neuroplasticity and longer-term brain health markers.” With all of these amazing benefits, it seems obvious that adding some quick micro workouts to your day will help improve your overall health.
HOW TO GET FIT
The most effective brief workout sessions are those done at high relative intensity. Based on your goals and your current level of fitness, your sessions should be at an RPE (rating of perceived exertion) of approximately 7-9 or what feels “hard” or “very hard.” This intensity can also be measured by heart rate, operating at approximately 75-95% of your maximal heart rate (based on age, gender, health characteristics). To get the most from these workouts, it’s helpful to include compound movements that involve multiple joints and muscle groups so you can efficiently work many body parts at once.
There are many variations of workout types to achieve these goals. Formats such as a Tabata (8 rounds of :20 work and :10 rest, for a total of 4 minutes) train anaerobic power, while intervals such as :30-:40 work and :20-:30 rest help improve metabolic conditioning. An EMOM style workout (every minute on the minute) can include a certain number of repetitions or an amount of time to do a certain movement within the minute. An AMRAP style workout (as many rounds and reps as possible) can set the clock for a certain amount of time and keep working through the movements as long as the clock is still ticking.
Although these workouts are short, it’s still important to do a brief warmup so you don’t jump into high intensity with cold muscles and a slow heart rate. Even 1–2 minutes of a walk, jog or jumping jacks can help ease the body into exercise mode and reduce the risk of injury.
