In this article series “15 minutes makes a difference,” I decided to take a real look at how much of a difference 15 minutes can make in different aspects of life.
photo: athletico.com
This article’s topic is exercise. Don’t worry, if you haven’t heard about interval training yet, there’s still time. Now, not having enough time to work out isn’t an excuse.
Yes, you are busy. Being a college student is hard and studying is very time consuming but not having time to work out is no longer a valid reason for not hitting the gym. Say goodbye to the freshman 15 and hello to a 15 minute, high intensity work out that will be all you need.
CrossFit is the most popular brand of interval training. It’s a style of exercise that focuses on exercising hard and fast to build your body. Being thin isn’t in any more, it’s all about being strong and getting results quickly.
Egan Inoue, owner of Egan’s Fit Body Bootcamp, says in his “Train with Egan” newsletter that “(n)ew and exciting research is coming out in favor of shorter, more intense workouts.” Inoue goes on to say that “The old way of exercising at a slow speed, for long periods of time, is over and done.”
While cardio exercises for long periods like distance walking and running are still beneficial for overall health, Inoue gives fitness advice in his newsletter about a new way to get the fat burning results you want.
“The simplest example of interval training for walking would be to add short bursts of jogging or alternate slower walking with brisk walking.” Inoue writes that “(i)f you walk outdoors, then jog or walk faster between certain landmarks such as mailboxes or street signs, then slow down for a short distance.”
The theory behind interval training is that you perform lots of different exercises, doing a different set of exercises each time, so that your muscles don’t get used to doing a certain motion and adapt. To see results, your muscles need to be stimulated or confused so that they don’t adapt to certain kinds of movements. Also, exercises should be alternated between high intensity, high impact exercises and high intensity cardio exercises. The ones that are high impact need to be done full out, with all of the energy that you’ve got. Since the entire exercise routine is high intensity, you don’t have to work out for as long.
Inoue writes that “(s)hort and intense exercise sessions that utilize High Intensity Interval Training get you better results with way less time invested. So there goes the time crunch excuse. You don’t need to spend hours in the gym to get amazing results.”
The Mayo Clinic website says that every workout should include some kind of aerobic or cardio exercise like walking or running, strength training like push ups and squats, and core exercises like sit ups. CrossFit, Egan’s Fit Body Bootcamp, 24 Hour Fitness, and countless others offer interval training sessions that include cardio, strength, and core exercises to get you fit fast.
Also, there’s lots of videos on Youtube and websites with lists of interval training exercises you can do from home. Google “15 minute work out” and pages and pages of results will come up. Just remember, you have to go full out, with out a break, for as long as they tell you. Interval training doesn’t work unless you push yourself for the entire time (15 minutes) allotted. If you think you can do it from home, more power to you; some of us need encouragement from an instructor to push ourselves so be honest with yourself.
“So it turns out that we all really do have enough time to get an effective workout each day…” Inoue writes. “And that old excuse about not having time is no longer going to work.”