Trending News: Study reveals there’s no need to spend hours working out
Do you spend hours at the gym pumping iron? Is part of your motivation for doing this linked to health? Wishing you could spend less time working out and not lose any of the benefits?
Well, according to a new study, this may be possible. Researchers have discovered that a 15-minute HIIT session reaps major health benefits. In case you don’t know, HIIT is the acronym for High-Intensity Interval Training.
The study, appearing in the journal of Experimental Physiology, found that men who engage in 15-minutes of HIIT training three times a week saw improved insulin levels and increased muscle strength.
The cool thing is that the participants who took part in this six-week study started to see results in as early as two weeks. That’s kind of incredible when one considers their medium age was 36 and were all overweight.
Related: Here’s why you lose muscle mass
This particular line of research does away with the conventional wisdom that holds one must spend hours sweating out with resistance training to gain any real benefits.
The other interesting thing about the study relates to folks who live with Type-2 diabetes. As you may know, insulin is a hormone that is responsible for regulating blood sugar in the body.
People with diabetes or similar hormone-related disorders know how difficult it can be to bring blood sugar levels down. If left unchecked, this can cause weight gain, cardiovascular problems, and increased risk for other health issues.
So, going by the research, short intervals of exercise may offer a natural way to combat unstable blood sugar levels while helping to keep weight under control.
All of this is welcome news, don’t you think? Instead of slogging it out for hours doing curls and squats, it may only require a fraction of the time.
Now before you embark on any fitness routine, it’s always a good idea to check with your doctor. Assuming you get the green light, HIIT-type exercises may be a smart choice.
Related: Do nighttime workouts mess with sleep?
