We all know that exercise is very beneficial to a person’s health. So why don’t more people exercise on a regular basis? Is it lack of money? Or lack of motivation? Or the lack of equipment?
No. The #1 reason people don’t exercise is lack of time.
Martin Gibala, a kinesiology professor and exercise researcher at McMaster University says, “We know that 50% of the population doesn’t exercise and the most commonly cited barrier to exercise is the lack of time.”
Professor Gibala put his theory to the test in a study published in the Journal of Physiology. He compared a group of people that exercised a “traditional” 90 to 120 minutes a day to a group that only exercised 20 minutes a day, and only 3 days a week.
After only two weeks, BOTH groups showed improvement in exercise performance and oxygen uptake. What was interesting is that the improvement was almost identical in both groups. How can that be, you might be asking?
They found the group that only exercised for 20 minutes trained with greater focus and intensity. So IT IS possible to get a lot out of short focused workouts instead of longer one hour workouts.
In fact, this is just one of dozens of studies that confirm the benefits of shorter but more intense workouts. Just remember that HOW you exercise in those 20 minutes is the important thing. Intensity is the key, not duration.
So keep that in mind as you try to get everything into your busy schedule. And if you already exercise regularly, then try mixing things up and do a shorter and more intense workout. You’ll get a lot out of it and you will save yourself a lot of time.
Helping you live YOUR Vibrant Potential,