Every once in a while, a fun fact crops up that makes everyone want to dorkily scream, "I LOVE SCIENCE!!!" from the top of their lungs. Fun fact: Just 60 seconds of hardcore exercise can deliver the same benefits as 45 minutes of moderate exercise, according to a rock-solid study recently conducted by researchers at McMaster University in Canada.
In the study, 25 guys either changed nothing about their fitness routines or started working out three times a week, clocking 45 minutes of stationary biking at a moderate intensity, or doing 60 seconds of intense stationary biking broken up into 20-second intervals with 2-minute periods of slow pedaling to break it up. With a 2-minute warm-up and 3-minute cool-down, they spent a total of 10 minutes on the bike.
After 12 weeks, all the guys who started moving reaped virtually identical results — even though some spent 27 hours on a bike, and some only pedaled for six hours (with just 36 minutes of all-out effort). While the goal wasn't weight loss, speed, or a sexy after pic to post on Instagram, both groups reaped big gains in endurance, improved their insulin resistance, and improved muscle functioning.
The study was done on out-of-shape men in their 20s — which means the results could differ for women and anyone who starts out super fit, then ditches her daily 45-minute workouts for 60 seconds of interval training. And if you work out for reasons besides, oh, improving your insulin resistance, there's no saying whether 60 seconds of all-out effort will help you meet your other goals.
Still, one minute of trying really, really hard is a small price to pay for improving your health — particularly when you're short on time. So can I get some praise hands for science?!
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Elizabeth Narins is a Brooklyn, NY-based writer and a former senior editor at Cosmopolitan.com, where she wrote about fitness, health, and more. Follow her at @ejnarins.
