High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT for short) is an effective workout that you can also at home can be completed and for which even people who are busy with work or family can find time.
Boost your circulation and metabolism with two minutes of training?
No less than two minutes should be enough to get your circulation going in a way that only a 30-minute workout can otherwise do. Researchers found this in a study.
Reading tip
HIIT workout or cardio – which is better?
In the studywhich was published in the journal ‘American Journal of Physiology’, the researchers examined the extent to which workouts of different intensity stimulate the metabolism.
During the study, the researchers compared how efficiently a group of participants responded to three different spinning sessions. The workouts were of different lengths and had different levels of strain on the muscles – the shorter the training, the higher the intensity.
Reading tip
The moderate workout lasted 30 minutes at a time, the second session was 4 x 5 minutes of classic interval training and the third included sprint sessions of 4 x 30 seconds each with short breaks.
As a result, the two-minute HIIT sprint workout scored points; despite its shortness, it was on par with the effectiveness of the moderate 30-minute workout and the regular HIIT workout.
The mitochondria in the test subjects’ cells responded equally strongly to all three workouts and thus favored metabolism – from this the researchers concluded that the three training sessions were equally effective. A good workout can also be completed in a short time.
HIIT: This is how effective the two-minute workout is
In order to achieve optimal results, it is particularly important to alternate between heavy use and recovery: HIIT training works according to this principle, in which intensive exercises alternate with phases of short recovery.
Since the metabolism relaxes during breaks, but has to return to top form during the workout, a lot of calories are burned. This helps with losing weight.
Reading tip
Short and intense: This is how you design your workout correctly
The researchers are now encouraging a rethinking of the way workouts have been designed so far: In the study description, they recommend adapting the duration of training more to individual needs, since even if the duration of a workout varies, the training successes in terms of muscle and metabolism remain similar .
Hide sources
source
J. Trewin, Adam et al. (2018): Acute HIIE elicits similar changes in human skeletal muscle mitochondrial H2O2 release, respiration, and cell signaling as endurance exercise even with less work, accessed on September 27, 2024: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/ 10.1152/ajpregu.00096.2018
Reading tips