Six Minutes of Hardcore Exercise Per Week May Be Enough

Daily News Central ^ | 06 June, 2005 | Ron Gara

[Paradox]

Ok you lard a$$es, get off your butts and get moving! Of course, I should heed this advice also. The whole idea of "interval training" is not new. Exercise/workout nuts have known about this for years. I think what is new is how effective and how quickly, this little bit can be.

I would suggest that anyone who is NOT in decent shape get a checkup by a doctor first, and then build up the intensity slowly, over a period of weeks.

[ken5050]

Does sex qualify? I can easily do 15 minutes 3x a week...

[N3WBI3]

This is a heart attack and a lawsuit waiting to happen..

[kevkrom]

I've seen other studies that show that weightlifing one day a week gives you over half as much benefit as three times a week -- i.e., increasing the amount of exercise has diminishing returns...

[ruiner]

Try reading the article bud, it says 6 minutes is A-OK!!

WOOO HOOOOO!!! I'm a TRIATHLETE now!!!!!

:)

[reagan_fanatic]

They're right. You'll lose weight rather quickly once death sets in after the heart attack.

[Millee]

Less then a minute a day???? Woo-hoo!!

[evets]

[Young Werther]

Yes if you perform Michael Jackson winkie twinkies!

[Labyrinthos]

The study was conducted on 16 subjects: eight who performed a two-week sprint interval training program and eight who did no exercise training.

BFD. The question is not whether the high intensity program works, but rather, how it compares to more traditional aerobic exercise. This study doesn't address the issue because the control group consisted of eight couch potatoes.

[Ticonderoga34]

Does sex qualify? I can easily do 15 minutes 3x a week...

Do you do it with high intensity? If so, it might qualify.

[ZULU]

Uhhh, I saw "hardcore" in the title and immediately assumed....

Oh well.

[blueblazes]

If you're already not in shape, couldn't those bouts of super intense exercise....kill you? Isn't that how folks have heart attacks - responding to short intense bouts of exercise they're not used to?

[Labyrinthos]

I've seen other studies that show that weightlifing one day a week gives you over half as much benefit as three times a week -- i.e., increasing the amount of exercise has diminishing returns...

That depends upon your weightlifting goals. Although I lift weights 3 to 4 times a week, I keep my workouts short and intense: No more than 4 reps per set at 20 seconds per rep, at 95% to 100% capacity. My entire weightlifting workout lasts about 20 to 30 minutes.

[clintonh8r]

bump

[blueblazes]

I'm sure you know what you're doing. Do you think other folks can figure it out themselves or would they need a trainer to design a program for them?

[eureka!]

Re#14 Where did you get that program, if I may ask. I'm about 3 times at the gym a week, 3 sets of 12-15 reps at 75-80% of capacity. I made it up. It has resulted in good tone and just enough soreness to feel like I got a workout...

[brytlea]

That's what had me scratching my head. Maybe what they meant to prove is that some exercise give better results than no exercise??
susie

[discostu]

If you're not in shape your definition of intense exercise will be different. Basically it's all just pushing your body as far as it can go, which as you get in shape is farther and farther.

[Williams]

I have to think about this one. No matter how flat out hard hitting you have to go at it, they are talking about a total of SIX MINUTES A WEEK. It is going to have to be one heck of an intense 360 seconds to qualify as "very demanding and requiring high motivation" versus 7 hours a week.

Ona more serious note, don't football players have higher cardiac damage rates because they engage in lots of short intense bursts of activity? But this is one lousy 6 minute burst a week.