Quick fitness

There are any number of studies coming out that tell you how much exercise you need to do. It is difficult to say that any one of these studies is definitive but a recent study is interesting because it specifically addresses how much study people who are currently unfit need to do to become fit. Interested? Your interest might be even more piqued to hear that you can give yourself this fitness boost in just a matter of minutes each week provided you do the right sort of exercise.

Physical fitness has long been measured by maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). In this study researchers measured changes in VO2max in inactive but healthy men who completed a ten week training program. The program involved three high intensity training (HIT) sessions per week. In this form of exercise you exercise in short bursts but to the maximum of your capacity. So you might do bench presses at the heaviest weight you can manage for a set amount of time or until you can do no more. You might then have 30 seconds of light exercise like walking before doing another high intensity activity.

One group of men in this study did three sessions per week where they did four sets of HIT exercise at 90 per cent of maximal heart rate. These sessions were interspersed with three minutes of active recovery at 70 per cent of maximum heart rate. This is known as 4×4 training. Another group did just one four minute HIT session three times a week.

After the ten weeks the men who did just the one four minute HIT session three times a week showed a ten per cent improvement in VO2max. The group that did the 4×4 training increased VO2max by 13 per cent. Blood pressure decreased in both groups but actually by slightly more in the single session group.

The same effects for previously fit people could not be guaranteed but it suggests that as little as 12 minutes per week of HIT exercise could improve fitness for sedentary people. In a notoriously time poor society that removes at least one of the barriers to much-needed exercise.