All you busy, squishy people must’ve rejoiced at this week’s New York Times post about a miraculous 1-minute workout which is as good as 45 minutes of moderate exercise. The post was carried by major international dailies and you must’ve seen several friends sharing it on your Facebook feed too.
There’s no denying that any exercise is great for your body. In fact, when you travel, squeezing in a short 10-minuter is better than just overdosing on the breakfast buffet, but don’t confuse the part from the whole – if it took only 1-minute to get fit, the struggle to lose weight for the 30 million obese people in India would be less of an issue.
I don’t blame you for getting enticed by the catchy one-minute workout headlines – who doesn’t want a body like Katrina or Shahid without giving up their McDonald’s, mithai and without sweating it out in the gym?
But is this for real? Is 60 seconds of intense training all you need to get a six-pack?
Please Note: I don’t have a problem with the New York Times story. I have an issue with unrealistic, misleading fitness fads which can be dangerous to our health. That’s the foundation of frustration.
One-Minute Is Highly Misleading
The New York Times story was based on a new study published in PLOS One which found that “one-minute of intense exercise is comparable in its physiological effects to 45-minutes of gentler sweating.” (What’s gentler sweating and who sweats gently, anyway?)
The study also found that for the 27 people who enrolled, one-minute of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercise over six weeks built up their muscle activity by 12% while improving their blood pressure as well.
What Is High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)?
In affluent gyms, you’ll see machines like Crossfit and SoulCycle for it. If I had to explain it to you in gifs, it looks something like this:
Imagine being chased down by a tiger, fuelled by adrenaline. And then, rest, sweet rest!
Is It Really One-Minute?
HIIT is not all hype, it yields fantastic results (it’s practised by athletes for a reason) but only if interspersed with regular, moderate exercise over a longer duration.
And that’s the catch – it’s not a one-minute short, burst of exercise. You need that one-minute of hardcore exercise couched in at least 15 to 20-minutes of a workout.
This will be dangerous for a person whose body is not prepared. Any high-intensity interval training will require at least ten minutes of warm up, a period of moderate exercise and then back-to-back circuit training with little rest in between, followed by a cool down. If you try to cramp all that in a minute, get ready for injuries and damage to your heart.Leena Mogre, Fitness Expert
Some Exercise Is Better Than None But Don’t Expect Results in 1/2 or 5 to 7 Minutes
Research has consistently proved that any level of physical activity is better than being absolutely sedentary. So what does one, two or even a five-minute exercise routine do?
Nothing. Any activity is better than no activity but if you can’t do a proper workout with a warm up and cool down for at least 20 minutes a day, don’t expect results. You can probably start with 5 or 7 minutes but you have to take it forward from there.Leena Mogre, Fitness Expert
People who do these are not going to burn enough calories to show any metabolic benefit. These short workouts are a fad. High-intensity short workouts are for athletes and very fit people whose body’s are used to the level of sudden endurance.Dr Dinshaw Mathews, Sports Physiologist
So what does this mean?
The Verdict? When It’s Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is!
Even though one-minute makes for a catchy click-baity headline, your instinct will say you’re being played out. There is a reason why America’s biggest health authorities recommend at least 150 minutes of exercise a week (22 mins a day and not 1).
So where does this leave you?
Studies are variable!
Remember, for decades, we were told that egg yellow is a cholesterol bomb and last year even the World Health Organisation endorsed dietary cholesterol as beneficial. When the snacking industry started, juice was considered healthy and now we know juice is bad (sugar bomb, no fibre!).
One-minute or even seven can’t transform you or make you healthy. I can go on record to say, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who has. While I wish the promise of a one-minuter was true, but changing your body requires much more hard work than that.
Also Read: What Is the Best Exercise For a Sharp Brain?
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