The Lazy Exerciser; That’s Me
Entry forms are available at the Moose Jaw Exhibition Office I haven’t figured it out yet, whether I am smart or just darn lazy. By nature I think I am relatively lazy, but laziness apparently has served me well, at least in one part of my life. Like most people, I would rather do something that is uncomfortable for mere minutes than for an hour, especially if I can accomplish the same results. This is what exercise has become in my life. Get in, get out and go home. All in just mere minutes. I have written a number of times in the past about how to be efficient with exercise, getting the most bang for your time at the gym. By now most exercisers have heard about high intensity, interval training. HIT, HIIT, HINTE, HITE. No matter what the acronym, the gist is you may get better results with exercising in shorter time if you do it with more intensity.
There are those who exercise for long duration, believing the results with improve their endurance. The lower intensity, long duration activity, like 30 to 45 minutes (or for some even longer) of time spent on a treadmill, elliptical, stepper or outside, has definitely proven to positively affect your cardiovascular system and improve your body’s ability to transport oxygen. These are all very good things that will improve your health profile. Medium and long-distance runners tout the research that shows them that their type of training changes the profile of their muscle fibres to one of “endurance” and that of efficient use of oxygen in the body. I cannot argue that, but I can argue that you may be able to get the same results in a shorter (much shorter) amount of time. The high intensity interval training is now proving to do just that. Research is showing that just 6 short bursts of “going all out” for 20 to 30 seconds with a short rest period (in some cases 30-60 seconds) in between the bursts is enough to mimic the positive changes seen in medium exercise of 90 to 120 minutes. So what this is saying is that it may be possible to reduce your workout time from 2 hours down to less than 10 minutes, as long as the intensity is 100 percent effort rather than 65 percent.
Another benefit seen by reducing your workout time may be relief for your joints from the constant pounding on a treadmill or outside on the pavement that a longer workout may incur. I used to run 45 minutes to an hour regularly, and I remember I used to always suffer knee and hip discomfort. Since I replaced that exercise with the interval training, I no longer have those aches and pains.
I am proud and more than happy to be lazy!