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What if we told you that, according to science, you only had to workout seven minutes a day to get a huge payoff? Would you be interested in what workout routine could possible pull that off?
We have the answer for your right here; it's called the 7-minute workout. With these 12 intense exercise moves, done in 30 second intervals with a 10 second break in between, you could increase stamina, fight off heart disease, depression, and even boost your metabolism in a mere seven minutes.
“There’s very good evidence” that high-intensity interval training provides “many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,” says Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla.
We've also done a lot of articles on the benefits of high-intensity interval training here at HealthyPage. As we've explored before, the benefits are so extreme, you only need to do 1 minute of high-intensity training three times a week to reap some serious benefits.
According to The New York Times, "Interval training, though, requires intervals; the extremely intense activity must be intermingled with brief periods of recovery. In the program outlined by Mr. Jordan and his colleagues, this recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest between exercises. But even more, he says, it’s accomplished by alternating an exercise that emphasizes the large muscles in the upper body with those in the lower body. During the intermezzo, the unexercised muscles have a moment to, metaphorically, catch their breath, which makes the order of the exercises important."
If you're interested in trying the seven minute workout for yourself, there are a few great options out there for you. There are some incredible YouTube videos that you can just turn on and start.
If you would like a little more portability, we would recommend the app, "7 Minute Workout 'Seven'" by Perigee. It's free (although you can buy addition workouts for $1.99 or work towards achievements to get them for free!), you can earn coupons after workouts, and it has a list of achievements and motivational tools to help you stick with it--it's definitely our new favorite workout app! Also, if you are willing to spend the money, we recommend getting the "stretching" workout as well--it does a world of wonders without the same intensity. Use it on your "rest days" to ensure you never quite kick the habit of working out!
If nothing else, you can always follow this little info-graphic below. Just remember, it's 30 seconds for each workout, with a 10 second rest in between each one--and form does matter, so if you're unsure, download the "7 Minute Workout 'Seven'" to learn more about each position and keep your form perfect.
We do recommend that you stretch a little bit beforehand, as this does get intense (even though it's only seven minutes!).
Check out the workout routine below:
What do you think about this new workout? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Copyright © 2014 Ben Wiseman
