get off your butt!

Did you catch that?  What an amazing conclusion from last week’s issue of PLOS One.  The thing is, it’s not new information — not by a long shot.  For the past two-plus decades we have been seeing a move in the scientific literature away from slogging cardio, toward High Intensity / Low Duration resistance-based training as the superior form of exercise.  Think about it for a moment.  If you count those who are “SKINNY FAT“, more than 3 of every 4 Americans are either OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE, and it is creating a national health crisis, the magnitude of which no amount of money can take care of.  Folks; this study should give you hope!  Use it to your advantage. 

Simply dealing with this LARGELY MISUNDERSTOOD HEALTH PROBLEM will improve your overall health (and weight) by leaps and bounds — and the study showed that this form of exercise does just that.   Listen to this sentence from the study’s Abstract, and let it sink into your brain.  “A growing body of evidence suggests that exercise training with low-volume but high-intensity may be a time-efficient means to achieve health benefits.”  These people were on a treadmill for a 10 minute “warmup” at 70% of their max heart rate.  They then kicked the intensity to 90% for one minute, followed by three minutes at 70% and a five minute “cool down“.   Add it up.  That is 19 minutes, with only a single minute of what we would truly call “high intensity” exercise.

I get it.  You don’t have the time to do do the entire hour to hour and a half of P-90X or “Insanity“.  You don’t have the money for a gym membership.  You don’t have room in your house for a bunch of bulky gym equipment.  The thing is, these individuals saw huge changes in only 10 weeks, while exercising for less than 20 minutes three times a week — walking / jogging / running.  No one, and I do mean no one can tell me that they do not have 19 minutes, three times a week.  All you have to do is crank your heart rate up.  You can accomplish this in any number of ways.  But if you really want to boost your results, try doing the same amount of time with some modified RESISTANCE TRAINING.  I promise that your results will be even better! 

One of my favorite success stories of High Intensity / Low Duration exercise is TRACY REFKIND’S crazy body transformation that took place over a period of about three months.  All she did was perform Kettlebell Swings two or three times a week for an average of 20 minutes or so (in “interval” fashion, of course).  Coupled with a LOW CARB DIET, she lost 100 lbs in 100 days and now runs a Kettlebell Fitness Studio. 

If you are CHRONICALLY ILL or dealing with CHRONIC PAIN SYNDROMES, you will not be able to jump right in and go.  But do something.  The health benefits of just a little bit of exercise are too good to pass up.  Not to mention, I have never one time heard a person say that they started exercising and feel worse.  You can do this.  Simply make a plan and stick to it.  Oh; just one more thing.  If you have great results, let me know so that I can share them with everyone.