Faudzil @ Ajak

Faudzil @ Ajak
Always think how to do things differently. - Faudzil Harun@Ajak

4 June 2013

HEALTH - Forget lengthy gym workouts
















Forget lengthy gym workouts: Just 12 MINUTES of exercise a week can get couch potatoes fit 


  • Just three short, high-intensity exercise sessions per week can make a substantial difference in the fitness levels of inactive men, study finds
  • Experts suggest people incorporate short bouts of exercise into their lives


Inactive man
A study has found that just three short bursts of exercise can significantly improve fitness levels in inactive men

Good news for male couch potatoes - just 12 minutes of exercise a week is enough to become fit and healthy.
New research found that four minutes of vigorous activity three times a week improves fitness in otherwise inactive men.

It's well known that regular training improves oxygen uptake, which is a well-established measure of physical fitness.

However, just how much exercise, and how intense that exercise should be to deliver the biggest benefit, remains to be defined. 

Now, researchers at the Centre of Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim have found that just three short high-intensity sessions a week can make a substantial differences in the fitness of inactive men. 

Study leader Arnt Erik Tjonna said: 'Our data suggests that a single bout of high intensity exercise performed three times per week may be a time-efficient strategy to improve oxygen uptake.'

He said one of the advantages of this approach is that it is easy for people to incorporate short bouts of exercise into their daily lives. 

The researchers measured changes in oxygen uptake 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.

    One group of 13 followed a protocol that has previously shown to be effective, consisting of four intervals of 4 minutes of high intensity exercise at 90 per cent of full heart rate.

    The other group followed a programme of one four-minute interval high-rate exercise.

    After training, oxygen uptake increased by 10 per cent in the group that had just one high-intensity session three times a week , while the group that had four minutes of exercise four times a week increased oxygen uptake by 13 per cent.


    Inactive man with exercise bike
    Too lazy for lengthy gym workouts? New research shows that while regular training improves oxygen uptake, four minute sessions three times a week may be sufficient


    Both groups saw decreases in their blood pressure, but the single exercise group's blood pressures showed greater decreases than their four exercise bout counterparts.

    But Dr Tjxnna said that people who are active probably won't benefit as much as the inactive participants did from the single bout training regime. 

    He said: 'It has to be noted that the subjects were previously inactive, and the same effect on physical fitness cannot be expected in active individuals.

    'Nevertheless, since we know that more and more people are inactive and overweight, the kind of improvement in physical fitness that we saw in this study may provide a real boost for inactive people who are struggling to find the motivation to exercise.'

    The findings are published in the science journal PLOS One.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2333246/Forget-lengthy-gym-workouts-Just-12-MINUTES-exercise-week-couch-potatoes-fit.html#ixzz2VG2EBsez
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