“I want to exercise, but I just don’t have time.”
It is the age-old excuse for the busy 21st Century citizen and can be a very real obstacle to achieving fitness and health.
The new and scientifically proven 7 minute workout is designed for those who are both leisure time lacking and short attention spanned, which, let’s face it, is the majority these days.
This practical and groundbreaking concept was introduced in an article in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal.
The evidence-based workout consists of 12 exercises and claims to have the same health effects as a long run and a session of weights. It shockingly fulfils the mandates for high-intensity effort through only body weight, a chair and a wall.
“The 7 minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant,” said Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Florida, and co-author of the article.
Each exercise is performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each with a 10 second rest for recovery. The workout can be done anywhere and for maximum benefits it is best to repeat the 7-minute bout 2-3 times.
Pfftt… Only 7 minutes? Piece of cake, too easy right? Wrong.
I arrogantly challenged myself to this workout, convinced that 7 minutes would be a walk in the park.
I was put in my place massively.
With an intensity that should be about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10, this workout is not as pathetically easy as I had once dismissed it. Instead it is a viable option to get your heart rate up on those days when your ‘To Do List’ is so long that working out seems impossible.
High intensity circuit training (HICT) and high intensity interval training (HIIT) have been in the spotlight recently. Short bursts of intense exercise such as circuits and sprints can boost your metabolism; increase fat loss whilst maintaining muscle mass and even increase life expectancy.
Before you go throwing yourself into these exercises, try and gain an understanding of correct form and technique. Otherwise you could injure yourself as well as missing out on the cardiovascular and weight-loss benefits of the program.
Sorry couch potatoes, you can no longer rely on the trusty justification of being unable to squeeze a workout into your busy schedules.
Any movement is already better than none, so why not try to get your heart rate up even if just for 7 minutes.
This story was originally published on The Carousel.
