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"No Time" is no excuse.

December 3, 2009

'No time' is no excuse

FITNESS

Posted By JAMES GORDON

One of the many excuses that I hear on a regular basis as to why people don't exercise is "I just don't have time". Although this is certainly a legitimate concern in today's society, it doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice your health and fitness. There is a way to get some great results with very little time invested. I know, it sounds like a late-night infomercial, but stay with me.

A recent study published in "The Journal of Physiology" suggests that intense bursts of exercise lasting only a few minutes can yield the same results as traditional endurance training. "The most striking finding from our study was the remarkably similar improvements in muscle health and performance induced by two such diverse training strategies," says Martin Gibala, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University.

The study had 16 college-aged students do six workouts over a two-week period. Eight of them performed from four to six 30- second bursts of cycling at an "all-out" pace with a four-minute break between sets for recovery. The other students did a "traditional" 90-120 minutes of cycling at a moderate pace each day.

The sprint group's total time (including recovery) over the two-week period was only 2.5 hours. The other group worked for a total of 10.5 hours in the same time frame. Despite the obvious difference in training volume, the two groups showed almost identical improvements.

One of the more popular interval training sets I use with clients is called a "Tabata Interval," which is an all-out effort of 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. This is usually done for six to eight sets. Tabata intervals can be done with virtually any functional exercise that you can imagine. Running, cycling, swimming, squats, push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups are all popular choices. You can do one, or combine several together for a more intense session. However, for this method to be effective, the efforts must be done at maximum intensity.

Here's an example you can try for yourself. Start with the run, 20 seconds at your best sprint pace, rest 10 seconds, and sprint back to your starting point. Do this six times. Immediately follow this with squats (feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, lower the hips to just below the knee, return to a standing position) for six sets, and finish with push-ups in the same format. Each "set" takes 30 seconds (20 second work, 10 second rest) for a total workout time of nine minutes, and no equipment required! Including a warm-up and post-workout stretch, you are finished in 15 minutes.

The next time you don't have time for an hour at the gym, get your shoes on, jog over to the local park or playground and invest a little less time.

James Gordon is the owner and trainer at CrossFit Orillia. Contact him at 327-0920 or www.crossfitorillia.ca.