I'll admit that I often use the excuse of not having enough time to work out. Between the demands of work and raising two small kids, sometimes it really is difficult to drag myself to the gym. That's why this piece on Well this morning grabbed my attention - a high-intensity workout in just seven minutes, and one that's backed by science! Blogger Gretchen Reynolds writes:
...Sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines for how to put the newest fitness research into practice.
An article in the May-June issue of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal does just that. In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science.
“There’s very good evidence” that high-intensity interval training provides “many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,” says Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of the new article.
I'm ready to give this a try. If all I need are seven minutes, a chair and wall, then there's really no room for excuses anymore.
Previously: Fitness research: A year in review, Is fitness level more important than body weight in boosting heart health, Study shows physically fit older adults have fewer age-related changes in their brains, Exercise may be effective in treating depression, Exercise may protect aging brain from memory loss following infection, injury, How physical activity influences health and Study shows how physical activity benefits seniors’ hearts
Photo by lululemon athletica
