Exercise Scientists Say One 23-Minute Workout a Week Is Nearly as Effective as Three--but There Is One Catch https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/exer...ffective-as-three-but-there-is-one-catch.html Improve aerobic fitness, lose weight, lower blood pressure ... All it can take is one 23-minute workout per week. (But it's a tough 23 minutes.) You probably know that exercising at moderate intensity for 20 minutes elevates your mood for up to 12 hours. That exercise increases the production of a protein that supports the function, growth, and survival of brain cells. That exercise is one of the five daily habits a 30-year Harvard study shows can not only increase your lifespan by 12 to 14 years but also cut your risk of Alzheimer's in half. And, of particular interest during times like these, that exercise helps you better manage stress. But when you feel overworked, overwhelmed, and struggling to make sense of the new normal, it's tough to exercise regularly -- much less reap the benefits. Science to the rescue. According to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, one 23-minute HIIT session per week can boost aerobic capacity, lower blood pressure, and lower body fat...and one session is nearly as effective as doing three 23-minute sessions per week. Researchers created three groups. One did an HIIT workout three times a week, another did one HIIT workout per week, the third did three moderate-intensity workouts per week, and the fourth group did nothing. (I've been a part of a few research studies and never got to be in the "do nothing" group.) Both of the HIIT workout groups lost more body fat than the other two groups, but the one time per week group lost nearly as much -- and also reaped similar aerobic and blood pressure benefits. Still, there's one major caveat: You can't just spin lightly on an exercise bike. You can't just breeze along on the elliptical. You can't just knock out 12 reps of dumbbell bicep curls with a five-pound weight while you check your email with your free hand. Your HIIT workout has to be a true HIIT workout. HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. The principle is simple. You go almost as hard as you can for a short period of time, then "rest" for enough time to let you recover enough to go hard again. In running terms, that could mean sprinting for 30 seconds, jogging for 30 seconds, sprinting for another 30 seconds, etc. Here are plenty of different HIIT options, some aerobic, others strength-focused. Whatever HIIT workout you do, remember you have to go well beyond what feels comfortable. (Which means you should check with your physician to make sure you're up for it.) Your lungs need to burn. Your muscles need to burn. If it's not hard -- really hard -- then you're not doing a HIIT workout. Roughly speaking, your "on" effort should be at 80 to 90 percent of max heart rate, and your recovery period at 65 to 70 percent. (In general terms, you can calculate your max heart rate by subtracting your age from 220.) Or if you're doing longer "on" sessions, you may rest completely for shorter periods of time; it all depends on the workout. What won't vary is that a HIIT workout is no fun. But then again, you'll finish exercising in a third of the time it takes to grind your way through an hour-long spin class. And science says you'll get significant benefits from doing it just one time a week. Which leaves you more time to be as effective and efficient as possible with everything else on your plate. Can't beat that.
This is interesting because the article is about HIIT. I've posted in the past about research supporting low frequency HIT and, most recently, about Marty Gallagher's conclusion that once a week powerlifting training is at least as good as training twice or three times a week. You will recall that Gallagher was a powerlifting champion in his day, and has since trained other powerlifting champs. Based on his experience with his trainees, he found that they lifted more and gained (more?) muscle training only once a week. And I have posted in the past about research concluding that a brief and hard session of HIIT was as good as or better than a number of longer, moderate-intensity, steady-state cardio sessions. This latest finding concludes that even HIIT frequency can be minimized with little if any compromise. It appears that the only constant is intensity, across the spectrum of all these activities. Good to know.
I mentioned this 23-min once a week workout to my brother and he laughed his ass off. Maybe they should tell this to Arnold Schwarzenegger!
I suggest you tell your brother to lay off the nitrous oxide. Not many people can do a true 23-minute HIIT cardio session at all, let alone once a week. This your brother?
I don't think one session per week would bring nearly the results that three would. One HIIT compared to three lackluster traditional workouts would be a different story. I just finished two months of doing mostly HIIT and it was three days per week. Now back to some traditional weight training. Here is my usual HIIT. Ten 2 minute rounds on the heavy bag. Can shadow box if no bag available. Best intensity you can give all ten rounds. One minute rest period between rounds. During this "rest" period I do 15 reps of one of the following exercises. Air squats, mountain climbers, burpee. Pick your poison but try to do all three equally. Try it if you dare.
A guy I follow from time to time just because he's entertaining and a no b.s. kind of guy. He's making a transition from serious gear taking bodying building to a more normal, but not totally workout routine. Worth a watch as he talks about getting off gear in the beginning of the video and then goes into his particular version of HIIT. Functional & Fxckable HIIT Training | with Seth Feroce - YouTube
Watched most, but not all, of the video. First things first. He doesn’t swear nearly enough. I note that he is transitioning from abusing steroids to “merely” using them. So, not a reference point for me. Also, from what I gather he pretty much lives in the gym. Cardio 3 days a week plus how many bodybuilding workouts? Man, I am so past the point of scheduling my life around the gym and being defined by it. I think he would be somewhat more modest with his workouts if he went off the stuff entirely. He reported having “bad” bloodwork, but rather than back off entirely from the drugs, he chose to play chicken with the gods to try and outsmart them. Not my thang. I don’t know, Cap’n. I’m not quite sure what the takeaway is from the video.