Get fit in 2 minutes a day
IT is great news for exercise-shy Britons who dread the thought of a punishing daily workout to try to stay in trim.
Instead of spending hours pounding a treadmill in the gym, just two-and-a-half minutes of intense exercise each day is all you need to help keep the pounds off, claim researchers.
They say a concentrated burst of effort can burn at least 200 extra calories. The hope is that the quickfire regime will encourage more people to stick with their workout routine.
“Many people start an exercise programme but just can’t keep it up,” said researcher Kyle Sevits, of Colorado State University.
“The biggest factor people quote is that they don’t have the time to fit in exercise.
“We hope if exercise can be fitted into a smaller period of time, then they may give exercise a go and stick with it.”
The scientists studied volunteers who spent two days dieting and a third day on the rapid workout – which used up an extra 200 calories. The findings, published by the American Physiological Society, say the brief, intensive sessions give a marked rise in the amount of calories burnt, despite the short time spent on exercise.
The biggest factor people quote is that they don’t have the time to fit in exercise
Previous research has found that short bursts of intense exercise are more effective at burning fat than daily workouts, triggering the removal of glucose from the blood into muscle tissue where it is burned as energy rather than turning into fat.
They also trigger the release of fat-burning hormones, helping to shift unwanted love handles and even reducing the appetite, whereas longer workouts actually make you want to eat more.
