Do you want to be physically active but you just can’t seem to find the time to go about it? Well, here’s a bit of good news: research reveals that doing 2.5 minutes of sprint interval training for 25 minutes daily can cause you to lose as much as 200 calories daily.

Sprint interval training is a high-impact workout that includes 30-second bursts of activity followed by a few minutes of rest. This exercise aims to increase your endurance.

To show the effects of sprint interval training on energy expenditure, ScienceDaily.com reports that researchers from Colorado State University and University of Colorado Anschultz Medical Campus collected data from five healthy male volunteers between ages 25 to 31 years through a series of tests. For three days, the volunteers ate only a precise diet that provided them the exact amount of calories they need. They were then checked into a room with equipment that regulate oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water content. The participants were then asked to do sedentary activities such as checking email, watching television, and the like.

The participants were also required to do sprint interval training, which involved pedaling as fast as they can on a stationary bike at high resistance for five 30-seconds sets, each followed by a rest gap of four minutes.

After analyzing data, researchers saw that the volunteers burned an average of 200 calories by just spending a total 2.5 minutes doing intense exercise. Although more research is needed to see the effects of their findings on weight loss, this seems to be a good inspiration for those looking to start on an exercise regimen.

(Photo by Mike Baird via Flickr Creative Commons)