April 4, 2022 – Some people manage to run for hours and sweaty peloton classes, but a much larger group of people lack the time, motivation or ability for long workouts. Take, for example, those with chronic health conditions, limited mobility, previous poor fitness experiences, or who are hopelessly over schedule.
This does not mean that they have to give up the physical and psychological benefits of exercise. In recent years, research has made headlines about the benefits of a few minutes of physical activity. Not to mention the home fitness industry that has surged in response with promising physical transformations in X minutes a day (or less!).
What is true? What is too good to be true? Can periods of activity lasting 10 minutes or less help improve your health and fitness? Even when US government guidelines recommend two and a half to five hours of moderate exercise per week?
Research says yes. While you should never expect a full-body transformation, workouts of even 10 minutes or less can improve your health, mental wellness, and fitness — if you tackle it right.
Why short bursts of movement can help
Coyle, PhD, professor and director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Texas, since at least 2005, researchers have been trying to determine how short your exercise sessions are and how much you still benefit from them.
Part of the equation is density. His studies show 10-minute workouts in which people spin as hard as possible for 4 seconds, then rest for 15 to 30 seconds, improving fitness in young and old people (and in the latter, also building muscle mass). Other studies showed that shorter “workout snacks” — climbing stairs three times, with 1 to 4 hours in between — improved fitness over 6 weeks.
By increasing intensity, says Coyle, these interval sessions temporarily deprive your muscles of the fuel and oxygen they need to produce more fuel, just as long workouts do. In response, your blood volume increases, your heart pumps more with each beat, and your muscle cells develop more mitochondria (small energy-producing factories).
This does not mean that less intense physical activity is also not beneficial. it’s a. In fact, there are several ways you can handle shorter motion sessions.
“Accumulate” a healthier lifestyle by moving throughout the day
To reap the many benefits of physical activity — from lower blood pressure to better sleep to a longer life — health experts recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week. Medium means your heart is beating faster, but you can still talk.
This averages out to 20 minutes per day. But if you’re inactive or have physical or logistical limitations, a full 20 minutes can seem like a daunting task.
Fortunately, the latest update to the US government’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans specifically states that you don’t have to log those minutes all at once. What amount of movement is “calculated” toward the total.
Four minutes here, 8 minutes there, and another 5 minutes after that… it all adds up.
In fact, depending on what you do in the rest of your hours, small, repetitive bouts of movement may be better for your health than one vigorous exercise.
“Being sedentary all day and doing 30 minutes of exercise once a day isn’t very healthy for you,” says Anthony Wall, certified personal trainer and spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. Focus on very stable, Which means sitting for long periods of time. This has health risks, including heart disease and diabetes. While one exercise session is better than none, it may not reverse the damage from all that sitting.
Remember: our bodies are designed to move. It’s okay to work up to 150 minutes gradually. Start where you are, perhaps with a 5-minute walk around the block, stretches, or easy exercises on the nearest patch of rug. Be consistent, then add – it will feel easier as your body and mind adapt.
“The data shows the more exercise you do, the more motivated you are to exercise,” says Julia Basso, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Stereobrain Lab at Virginia Tech. When you crave movement, it’s easier to sneak in. And in the end, all those minutes will add up to 150 per week — or more.
Improve your mood and thinking as well as your health
Basu, a neuroscientist and dancer, says short sessions of physical activity also boost brain function. Moving your body increases blood flow to your brain and changes levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. It also stimulates the release of growth factors that, over time, help germinate new brain cells.
And traffic brings perks almost instantly. In a recent Japanese study, running for just 10 minutes improved people’s moods and reaction times in a color word matching test. Brain imaging showed greater activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex that control things like attention, planning and working memory.
So if you’re feeling frustrated, stressed, or stuck in a difficult problem at work, try a 10-minute break for moderate movement. In this case, don’t do your best — tougher workouts can still benefit your brain over time, but the immediate response to stress may temporarily hamper your thinking, says Basu.
Alternatively, you can raise the bar by adding another brain-enhancing element such as social connection or rhythmic music. Walk with a friend, for example, or launch a playlist and dance.
Gain fitness through brief and challenging bursts
Government practice guidelines acknowledge that the harder you work, the faster you will reap the rewards. Choosing more vigorous activities — where you breathe so hard that you can only gasp for a few words — cuts your minimum requirement in half to 75 minutes a week.
Plus, the intensity brings additional fitness gains, says Wall. This includes improvement in sports-specific skills and building anaerobic endurance, or the ability to work harder for longer periods of time.
But the short and difficult approach has its challenges. It is often difficult to replicate what happened in the lab in the real world. (Coyle bike trials, for example, use specialized bikes.) warming up first can add time; The subjects began the study of climbing stairs with 10 jumping jacks, 10 air squats, and five lunges on each leg.
Finally, pressing too hard is uncomfortable. Wall says doing this daily puts you at risk of overtraining or injury. Even Cowell himself alternates 3 days a week of 4-second cycling training with 45-minute fixed rides, where he can watch Netflix.
Wall says that longer sessions bring greater improvements in health indicators such as blood pressure and resting heart rate. And while any movement is better than none, mixing everything up — from the exercise you’re doing to how long and intense it is — likely provides the most benefits.
Think of these “ingredients” of physical activity ideas, says Wall. “We all eat vegetables, but some of us love peppers more than carrots and tomatoes. We all need to get five fruits and vegetables a day — but how we mix them, there is a lot of difference there. Movement works the same way.”
