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In a perfect world, we’d all have infinite time, energy, and motivation to exercise for at least an hour, most days of the week. Obviously, this is not the case. The good news is that researchers at McMaster University recently discovered that just sixty seconds of very intense exercise produces health benefits similar to longer periods of moderate-intensity aerobic training.
If you are feeling crunched for time, sprint interval training can help you reap the same benefits as a much longer workout, in a shorter time. Previous studies, have also found that interval training combats depression.
60 Seconds of Sprint Interval Training Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness
The April 2016 study, “Twelve Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indices of Cardiometabolic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training Despite a Five-Fold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment,” was published online in the journal PLOS ONE.
In a statement, Martin Gibala, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster and lead author on the study, said, "This is a very time-efficient workout strategy. Brief bursts of intense exercise are remarkably effective.” Adding, "The basic principles apply to many forms of exercise. Climbing a few flights of stairs on your lunch hour can provide a quick and effective workout. The health benefits are significant."
For this study, the researchers wanted to determine how very short bursts of sprint interval training (SIT) compared to the longer sessions of moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), recommended in public health guidelines. They closely examined a variety of key health indicators including cardiorespiratory fitness and insulin sensitivity.
In previous studies, the McMaster team found SIT training—which consists of three 20-second 'all-out' cycle sprints followed by minutes of easy cycling for recovery between the hard sprints—was effective for boosting overall fitness. The workout takes a total of 10 minutes, which includes a 2-minute warm up and 3-minute cool down.
The new study compared the SIT protocol with a group who performed 45 minutes of continuous cycling at a moderate pace, plus the same warm up and cool down. After 12 weeks of training, the results were remarkably similar, even though the MICT protocol involved five times as much exercise and a five-fold greater time commitment.
Interval Training Can Help Combat Depression
In February 2016, I wrote a Psychology Today blog post, “Neuroscience Pinpoints Unique Way Exercise Fights Depression,” based on a study from the University of California, Davis published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
In this study, the researchers reported that short bouts of intense exercise increased levels of two common neurotransmitters—glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)—which are responsible for chemical messaging between neurons within the human brain. In a statement, lead author Richard Maddock, UC Davis professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, said,
"Major depressive disorder is often characterized by depleted glutamate and GABA, which return to normal when mental health is restored. Our study shows that exercise activates the metabolic pathway that replenishes these neurotransmitters.
From a metabolic standpoint, vigorous exercise is the most demanding activity the brain encounters, much more intense than calculus or chess, but nobody knows what happens with all that energy. Apparently, one of the things it's doing is making more neurotransmitters."
The recent findings by Maddock and colleagues are an important step towards understanding the complexities of brain metabolism. This research also hints at the negative impact that sedentary lifestyles might have on brain function and neurotransmitter production.
Conclusion: Interval Training Is a Great Alternative When You’re Pressed for Time
Ideally, for peak fitness, your weekly exercise routine would consist of a broad range of workouts that included: short bursts of intense interval training, longer endurance training at a lower heart rate, and “tempo” workouts at a vigorous intensity for a medium amount of time.
That said, once your doctor gives you the OK to do interval training, the latest research suggests that a 10-minute workout that includes 60 seconds of ‘all-out’ effort has the same benefits as a 50-minute workout at moderate intensity. The new study by Gibala et al. is a great reminder that instead of completely aborting a workout on days when you're crunched for time, you have other options.
As a real-time example, I’m running behind schedule this morning and have to be somewhere in about an hour. I was going to completely bail on doing my usual cardio workout this morning, because it takes over an hour. However, because I just wrote about this new research... I’m going to post this blog, squeeze in a 10-minute session of interval training on my indoor trainer, and be out the door in 30 minutes. Hasta la vista!
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