The 20-Minute Workout Video. MAX Workouts by Shin Ohtake - High-Intensity Workout Routines That Get You Lean & Fit, Fast! Can You Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week? Getty Images A few years ago, researchers at the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan put rats through a series of swim tests with surprising results.
They had one group of rodents paddle in a small pool for six hours, this long workout broken into two sessions of three hours each. A second group of rats were made to stroke furiously through short, intense bouts of swimming, while carrying ballast to increase their workload. After 20 seconds, the weighted rats were scooped out of the water and allowed to rest for 10 seconds, before being placed back in the pool for another 20 seconds of exertion.
The scientists had the rats repeat these brief, strenuous swims 14 times, for a total of about four-and-a-half minutes of swimming. How Interval Training Can Improve Health. John P.
Kelly/Getty ImagesCan brief bursts of exercise improve your health? While many of us wonder just how much exercise we really need in order to gain health and fitness, a group of scientists in Canada are turning that issue on its head and asking, how little exercise do we need? The emerging and engaging answer appears to be, a lot less than most of us think — provided we’re willing to work a bit. In proof of that idea, researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, recently gathered several groups of volunteers. One consisted of sedentary but generally healthy middle-aged men and women. Peak 8 Exercises.