New Research Delights Slackers: One Minute of Intense Activity Equals 45 Minutes of Exercise

New research published this week has offered hope to busy people, slackers, and anyone not engaging in sports for their own reasons. According to the study conducted at McMaster University and published in the scientific journal Plos One, one minute of intense physical activity equals 45 minutes of exercise.

The findings indicate that a single minute of intense physical activity has a beneficial impact on cardiovascular endurance, blood pressure, muscle strengthening, and energy level improvement.

How is the short sport performed? It is indeed one minute, but the process needs to be divided into three and to add a warm-up for every 20 seconds of intense sport.

The shortened sport is performed as follows: Start the short session with 3 minutes of slow to moderate activity, then sprint at full power for 20 seconds, and repeat these two actions twice more.

And that's it.

Nine minutes of moderate activity, one minute of intense activity that will take your breath away – ten minutes in total with a significant impact on health.

During the study, three groups of runners were examined: one that regularly does sports, one not in shape where members ran on a treadmill daily for 45 minutes, and one not in shape that performed the shortened activity during the study.

The results are amazing. After the 12-week study period, the third group showed amazing improvement in several metrics: cardiovascular endurance improved by 20%, blood pressure stabilized significantly, muscles strengthened, and energy level increased significantly.

These results are identical to the group of out-of-shape individuals who ran on the treadmill daily for 45 minutes. The first group, which regularly engaged in intense sports, showed more impressive metrics.

Encouraging, to say the least.