Seems like the excuse of not having enough time to squeeze in exercise will soon become a myth: Time.com reports that dividing your exercise routine into little, bite-sized sessions are more effective than an hour of calorie-burning marathon.
In the latest study published in Diabetologia, it showed that dividing your normal exercise regimen in short, intense sessions are more efficient than working out once a day. All participants were on the onset of insulin resistance, one of the first steps in toward diabetes: they all had a hard time burning sugar in their bodies. Insulin resistance is also one of the major cause of obesity.
Although the number of participants that joined the study were a small group, the findings are more encouraging. With a busy lifestyle eaten up by traffic and work, being fit is outweighed by sleeping in rather waking up an hour early to workout.
When one does a short bout of intense workout (think one minute) before meals, blood sugars get lowered down, and the heart is pushed to 90% of it's beating capacity—making your fat cry. Whereas 30-minute session can only have the heart work up to 60% only. Also, breaking up your exercises are more logical because you stimulate your metabolism every now and then.
The results of the study leave us wanting more info on short but sweet exercises, but we still have to wait for further findings to carve this theory on stone.
(Photo courtesy of USAG-Humphreys via Flickr Creative Commons)
