Reduce your workout time with Hiit weight training

How much time did you spend exercising this past week? If you are like most people you could probably count the number of minutes on one hand. You are thinking ‘ if only someone could come up with a way to do a full week’s worth of cardio in ten minutes’ . . . . I ‘d sign up.

Everyone is short on time when it  comes to working out because of various commitments – work, family or access to fitness equipment. Some of us are just looking for an excuse to avoid exercising – after all who wants to spend an hour torturing themselves – whether running, swimming, biking or any other form of activity to get and stay in shape?

Well now there is a way to get fit in less time than it takes to vacuum the house. Imagine spending just 60 seconds of strenuous exertion a few days each week and still get the same results as someone doing 45 minutes of steady state cardio. Enter hiit weight training – the answer to getting fit in a fraction of the time it would normally take to do a traditional workout.

A group of research scientists at McMasters University in Ontario, Canada have now establish empirical  evidence which shows that exercising just 30 minutes per week will yield the same benefits as 150 minutes for the same time period. You can review the study in the Plos One article.

The type of training being described here is called hiit or high intensity interval training. It can be done on a treadmill, bicycle, swimming, rope skipping, cross trainer, running on a track or any other form of exercise where you can – expend a high amount of energy for 20 seconds and reduce it to a slow energy output for two minutes.

The researchers found that doing just three twenty seconds burst or a  total of one minute high intense movement interspersed with two minutes at slow speed can produce similar benefits to someone doing forty five minutes of continuous exercise.   As with all activity you should take two minutes to warm up and three minutes to cool down.

The study reported that improvements were seen in cardiorespiratory fitness, insulin sensitivity and calorie burning capacity from doing just three days of hiit training each week at 10 minutes per session. This compared to doing 45 minutes each session for the same three day period.

Combine this type of training with a few minutes of resistance training and you have the ideal workout for those short on time but who want to get in shape.

As the study authors stated “The reasons for not engaging in regular physical activity are numerous and complex, but “lack of time” remains one of the most commonly cited barriers. Therefore, developing more time-efficient, yet equally effective exercise strategies are urgently needed.”

Lack of time has been one of the main reasons for people not to engage in some form of organized physical activity. Now there is no excuse. We can all find ten or fifteen minutes three days per week to improve our health.

I have been doing hiit weight training for the past couple years – putting in twenty five minutes each time – three days per week. It has served me well but like most everyone else, time has been a my problem.

Most weeks I am able to put in the time however there are those days when it’s just not possible. This latest study gives me new hope and I hope it does the same for you.

Give this type of workout a try for a period of time – at least one month and I am sure you will start to look and feel healthier.