Up Your Workout Intensity

I just read an interesting article which talks about the value of brief (one minute), high-intensity workouts. Basically, researchers at McMaster University's Kinesiology department found that three 20-second bursts of all-out exercise three times per week for 12 weeks yielded the same results as 150 minutes of continuous exercise per week for 12 weeks:  a 19% increase in cardiovascular fitness.

What????  1 minute per week for 12 weeks yielded the same increase in CV fitness as 150 minutes per week for 12 weeks?  Yes.

Read about it yourself, here:  Link to CBC article on McMaster Study

The researcher noted that this high-intensity workout is not for everyone, but, if you're up for an intense pace and very high effort, you get a great bang for your buck.

One of the reasons this research is being done is that a factor in people not exercising is lack of time. This research suggests that, even if you only have a few minutes, you can do a productive workout.

Food for thought. . . I am personally starting to focus more on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as a more efficient way to train. From what I can tell, there are noticeable gains in fitness and, presumably, you reduce the risk of repetitive stress-type injuries, say from running and running and running.

Let me know what you think.  Comments?

By the way, these McMaster cats have been doing some interesting research.  Here's another of their stories:  Link to CBC article on other McMaster Study