
Benefits of 1 Minute of All-Out Effort during Exercise - tosseraccount
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/1-minute-of-all-out-exercise-may-equal-45-minutes-of-moderate-exertion/
======
mgberlin
The headline is clickbait. It's a huge stretch to say that the volunteers
engaged in 1 minute of hard exercise. The workout was:

"[they] warmed up for two minutes on stationary bicycles, then pedaled as hard
as possible for 20 seconds; rode at a very slow pace for two minutes, sprinted
all-out again for 20 seconds; recovered with slow riding for another two
minutes; pedaled all-out for a final 20 seconds; then cooled down for three
minutes."

Sure, the exertions total to one minute, but the recovery periods and cooldown
are a very important aspect of the workout. Muscles are still burning glucose
and oxygen, clearing lactic acid, and generally doing all the things that
exercise is good for during this time.

~~~
ASpring
Exactly. Let alone the fact that they are using completely untrained
individuals, where doing any amount exercise will result in the adaptations
they check for.

Wish there was a third group that simply did 10 minutes exercise at the same
exertion as the endurance group.

~~~
mozumder
For my marathon training, between my long runs, I did spend one day a week to
just do one 5-10 minute sprint, at 95-105% max heart rate. ("Oh god I'm going
to die..")

The days after I did those, were the clearest, most relaxed days of all.

I ended up with a resting heart rate in the 30s.

~~~
Ensorceled
How did you do 105% of your max heart rate ...

~~~
Jtsummers
[http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/PhysicalActivity...](http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/PhysicalActivity/FitnessBasics/Target-
Heart-Rates_UCM_434341_Article.jsp)

It's not the literal maximum (the maximum you can achieve), it's the average
based on age. So you find the maximum for your age in the chart (or calculate
it) and set target zones when exercising.

[http://www.runnersworld.com/ask-the-sports-doc/what-is-my-
ma...](http://www.runnersworld.com/ask-the-sports-doc/what-is-my-maximum-
heart-rate) \- another discussion about it.

~~~
Ensorceled
Ah, I was wondering, as a runner you should get a HR monitor and calculate
your real maximum. The charts are crap; as a 51 year old runner, I routinuely
hit 185+BPM when hill or interval training (at about 95% effort) so I'm also
doing 105-110% of my chart "max".

~~~
Jtsummers
That's a good point. I'd treat it like BMI. It's a good guideline, but it's a
heuristic and won't fit everyone. In this case, if you've been a longtime
runner, you'll almost certainly have a healthier heart than your age-wise
peers (not guaranteed, but as a general rule).

------
acconrad
It's a clickbaity title, because it's not really one total minute of exercise.
What this is unraveling is the benefits of HIIT (high intensity interval
training). They did a very basic and very minimal form of intervals, because
they tested on a population of untrained, unadapted individuals. They
basically did a:

* 2 minute warmup

* 20 seconds all out sprint

* 120 seconds of slow pace to catch your breath

* repeat 2 more times

So in total, the "hard work" was 1 minute, but you're actually active and in
the gym for about 10-11 minutes.

The benefit here is the metabolic boost from strenuous work lasts much longer
than steady-state cardio, and this has been observed in previous studies.

The problem is that humans are incredibly adaptable - so 1 minute of hard
exercise cannot be applied indefinitely. You will need to increase that time
in order to see continuous benefits, as well as vary the amount of strenuous
exercise that is continuously performed. Anyone who has never trained before
is going to see benefit from some physical activity, but as soon as they are
adapted, the benefits disappear without progressive loading.

~~~
pc86
Increasing the intensity as you adapt will prolong the benefits, as will
shortening rest. For example, a tabata is pretty much the standard of this
type of training, and is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for
4 minutes (8 rounds total) and can be completed with any movement.

And the goal is typically to maintain the same intensity throughout, not to
get the highest total number. So if you're doing calories on a stationary
bike, 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10 is much better than 15-13-12-10-8-6-5-5
(usually).

~~~
bitL
Can you really maintain the same intensity with Tabata if you push as much as
you can during each interval? I see a downwards trend all the time on myself,
and after 3rd minute I can't feel my legs at all, so I am sure I am giving it
all I can. On the other hand, when doing 3x 7-minute HIIT, I increase load in
each subsequent try, going to like >2 pushups/second etc. (but this was
motivated by knee injuries in the first try when I went all out from the
start)

Also, from personal experience, try stationary bike for 30 minutes, maintain
>60rpm all the time and do 1-3 minutes of "easy" (meaning 1/3 difficulty
setting on your bike) and then 1 minute "hard" (100% difficulty setting, still
>60rpm), and repeat. I always start sweating like being in a rain after 20
minutes, and this exercise is doing wonders to my anaerobic capacity.

~~~
pc86
It's a lot harder to maintain the same numbers when you are going all out,
which is why it's "better" (subjectively) to meet that goal. Obviously if you
phone it in the first four rounds you're not doing yourself much good
comparatively.

~~~
bitL
Alright, I understood Tabata incorrectly then - I thought you have to do all-
out every single interval and once you can maintain the 100% level in each,
you are ready for Olympics ;-)

------
nbschulze
Forgive me if I'm wrong here, but all of the recent articles on HIIT seem so
odd to me. I feel like a lot of these articles are geared for people to read
and go 'Finally! I can get my entire workout done in one minute' and that's
kind of missing the point. There's not really a way to cheat your body or find
an easy way out of a workout. It's supposed to hurt and be hard, that's the
idea. I don't think a lot of people truly understand what 'max effort' is and
how hard HIIT actually is. I ran in college and we would do workouts like this
once or twice in a season because of how hard they are on you. Nothing about
this type of workout is supposed to be a way to get a quick workout in. It is,
however, a great way to feel like your lungs are going to explode and an even
better way to forget how to walk normally. If that's your thing, great! I try
and do a workout like this every week. I just think it's a little dangerous to
be preaching this type of workout to people who can't find the motivation to
do a 20 minute jog. I have a hard time believing they're going to suddenly
find the motivation to do the hardest workout they've ever done in their life.
Nothing wrong with having some inexperience with exercise, HIIT is just not
the right way to help a beginner 'get into shape'.

~~~
klue07
I completely agree. I was going to post the same thing until I saw your
comment. The inexperience with exercise causes people to not know how hard
they can push their body and still be fine. When I bring a friend to the gym
or something, they stop lifting for the set when they feel slightly tired. I
can't imagine their pushing themselves to where there's phlegm in their lungs
and still going.

~~~
bitL
I am often hit by "sickness" when pushing very hard while lifting weights in
the next 2-3 days after exercise, e.g. I do 30,000lbs dumbbell press volume
and in 2 days I fall sick. So it might be wise not to overdo things, maybe
some poeple's immunity gets compromised if they push too much and it takes
very long until their immunity improves? And I did all kinds of immunity-
boosting things like daily 5-minute cold showers etc.

~~~
klue07
You should know what your limit is to not get sick if that is a recurring
problem. What I was referring to is some people stopping a set right when they
feel slightly fatigued or feel the burn. I was referring to people who smile
and talk as they are lifting or working out.

------
fasteo
I find it quite surprising that "tabata protocol" is not mentioned in the
article or in the study[1].

For reference, this is the seminal work about high intensity interval training
[2]

[1] It appears as a reference though (ref 28.)

[2] [http://journals.lww.com/acsm-
msse/Fulltext/1996/10000/Effect...](http://journals.lww.com/acsm-
msse/Fulltext/1996/10000/Effects_of_moderate_intensity_endurance_and.18.aspx?sessionEnd=true)

~~~
jackcosgrove
My first thought too. Tabata workouts are fantastic, and in my experience can
achieve the same weight loss as much longer cardio workouts, with
proportionally less stress on the joints.

------
edtechdev
Here's a video showing interval training on an exercise bike
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeEHYdFhK4o&list=PL2Y4NA_zw1...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeEHYdFhK4o&list=PL2Y4NA_zw1s3NKkUv-
Wy5QgKpK3q6f2TH&index=1)

The way I've been doing it (I'm no expert), is after pedaling normally for a
minute or two, I turn up the resistance and pedal all out for 30 seconds or
so, then turn the resistance back down and pedal normally for a few minutes
until my heart settles back down, then repeat a few times or so. I go more by
distance than time. I try to pedal at least a mile, with high intensity bursts
of at least a tenth of a mile or more. It will make you sweat and heart race
if you are really going all out.

~~~
Cyph0n
Has it been effective with you? I'm just looking to lose some weight and
general fitness.

I currently do 20-30 min of on-off jogging, followed by some light weight
exercises for my upper body.

~~~
odonnellryan
Regarding jogging, what I found is the best (for sustained jogging) is the
following (or a variation of.) I've done a bit of research that gave me the
idea to try this, and it works.

 __General Advice: __

\---) Most importantly, pay attention to how you feel. Always consider that
before anything I say. If your body isn 't feeling up to it, don't do it: if
you get injured you'll be out for a while.

1) You're going to have good and bad days. Just make sure you don't push
yourself so hard that you quit. This is for you: go at your pace. Push
yourself, but don't make yourself frustrated.

2) You should and can jog or run when you're under the weather, due to a small
cold, or hungover, or whatever. Run in the rain. But see ---.

3) If while you're jogging you get a bad cramp, or something feels a bad kind
of sore, evaluate. Often you can run through it: you'll loosen up and it'll be
okay. But sometimes you're going to hurt yourself. Don't feel bad about
stopping. Start off slow. One day cut short is better than a few months
because you have a bad sprain.

4) Take breaks. Don't feel bad about taking a day off, as long as YOU KNOW you
will be back out there. Listen to your body, and let it heal.

5) Get a lot of sleep, and drink a LOT of water.

 __The Routine: __Alternate days between the below.

 __Sustained jog: __near-constant pace, no walking.

I do a good 3-5 miles (I'm not very in shape: anyone can work up to this
easily). On these days I do not push myself, I try a sustained jog. Sometimes
I can do a 5k in ~30 minutes fairly easily, other days it takes me over an
hour to do 4-5 miles. Point is to reach my goal without stopping. If I get
tired, I slow down, but keep jogging.

 __Running: __My goal here is to do 1-2 miles as quickly as I can. I try to
set my personal best using an app like Strava. Try to shave off even 5 seconds
from that one mile. If I feel good after one mile I do two.

 __The Mix: __I do a run where I 'm trying to get a good time on a 5k. This
means: sprinting when I can, as much as I can. When I get tired, I jog, but I
do not stop running.

Most days are the Sustained Jog. I try to run 5+ times a week. So probably 3-4
of the days are a sustained, 40-70 minute job. I try to do the quick sprint
once a week to see how I do, then I try to do the mix once a week as well.
Usually I do the mix at the beginning of the week, after a break day (or two).
You'll have the most energy then: use it.

Using this, I've seen very sustained and continued improvement with both
endurance and speed. I don't know what else I could ask for. The mentality of
jogging for me has also helped with motivation: I know I want to get out
there, but I'm doing it to be healthy, not for anyone else. So, I do it at my
pace. Getting out there is enough.

It's very important to: 1) Make sure you jog as often as your own body will
allow 2) Push yourself, but be safe 3) Take breaks, don't get burned out!

~~~
jeffwass
On your comment about running while "under the weather" :

I've heard that if you have symptoms from the neck up (sore throat, headache)
it's usually okay to run if you're up for it.

But symptoms below the neck (eg coughing or breathing difficulties) then you
shouldn't run.

~~~
odonnellryan
Good point! Yeah you really just have to do what you feel. It's okay to try as
long as you don't push yourself too hard. There's always tomorrow to run!

------
rm999
Ignoring the clickbait article, HIIT (high intensity interval training) is
incredible. I did this routine 3-4 times a week for a couple months:
[http://www.fitocracy.com/knowledge/dr-layne-nortons-best-
dam...](http://www.fitocracy.com/knowledge/dr-layne-nortons-best-damn-cardio-
humanly-possible-in-15-minutes/) and got my resting heartrate down to 48 from
the mid 60s. The best part? This was from just 45-60 minutes a week of fairly
easy exercise (compared to running) on a bike machine.

~~~
nibs
Agreed with this. For me, to avoid adaption and based on how I feel, I get on
the bike three times a week. I will pick a number of KM to target (1-5) and do
it as fast as possible, with the goal of beating my prior benchmark, even by a
second. And then I just let my body decide how fast or slow to go to manage my
time, but beat my prior one. Feels amazing.

~~~
vlan0
You should try a HIIT version of your workout. The results might surprise you.

------
marknutter
I've been weightlifting all my life and I go through periods of very committed
lifting followed by periods of working out whatsoever. These days I just don't
have time to stick to a steady routine of lifting 2-3 times per week, so
instead I've taken a different approach.

When you think about it, a good portion of the time spent working out is
getting ready; gathering your stuff up, getting to the gym, getting your
clothes on, warming up, cooling down, taking your clothes off, maybe
showering, leaving the gym to go back to wherever you need to be. This all
adds up and turns what should be a quick 10-15 minute workout into an hour or
more ordeal.

So my new thing is to just work out immediately, in my clothes I'm wearing, in
a space that's immediately accessible. I have a rack and weights in my
basement and also a free workout space at work, so when I feel like I need a
break from work or whatever, I just walk right over and knock out a few sets
of the Stronglifts 5x5 routine in whatever I'm wearing at the time. It's very
hard to use the excuse that I don't have time for it any more and I'm positive
I'm getting just as much benefit.

~~~
ianpurton
That makes sense to me, your body doesn't know where it is or what your
wearing. Just time under load counts.

------
adanto6840
I very briefly skimmed the linked study[1] -- love that they actually linked
to the study, especially love that the study is published openly, for free --
but there was one question/concern that I didn't see addressed.

They found that both groups (long and slow & short and intense) were basically
equivalent, especially compared to the control; but they didn't address
potential safety concerns or risk of injuries. Surely the group doing the
short, intense workouts is at a substantially higher risk of injury.

My biggest question would be, what is the added risk, and given that is it
still a good "value proposition" overall?

The sample size (total N = 25) is also kind of low. Interesting nonetheless...

1 -
[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075)

~~~
eitally
I can offer an anecdotal answer: it depends. This is honestly an area where
"individuals should speak with their physician before beginning any new
intense physical exercise program."

I'm a runner and a basketball player. In basketball, especially at the higher
levels, fast twitch muscles and explosive bursts are favored ... which results
in quite a bit of weight+sprint training and plyometrics. The common injuries
you see are generally torque related: sprains, strains, ligament
tears/detachments.

In distance running, it's the opposite: slow twitch muscles and cardiovascular
endurance are favored, resulting in some bits of high impact work but mostly
just "putting in the miles". In this sport, the common injuries are related to
overuse, poor physiodynamics (bad form), and congenital/degenerative problems
(mostly joint-related).

The short of it is probably something along these lines: not everyone is cut
out to do well at both, so there will probably be a fairly obvious option for
part of the population. For the majority who are "average", it probably pays
to try both, but I'd insert a caveat that easing into a new training routine
is CRITICAL and also that endurance sports carry risks that may not surface
immediately but which can have long lasting impacts, so be careful, talk to
experts, and pay attention to your body.

------
oarsinsync
1 minute of hard exercise spread out over 9 minutes of gentle exercise.

Still, sign me up!

~~~
jchendy
Yeah, the title is definitely misleading, but I agree that it's still really
helpful info.

------
matwood
This is probably part of the reason why power lifting is so beneficial. If you
are doing near maximal weight for few reps, every set is very hard exercise.

The problem I have seen with intervals training is that few people really go
all out.

~~~
NDizzle
What would really help is if the exercise machines were geared towards
interval training.

That makes me wonder if I can program my somewhat fancy elliptical. Why don't
we have a machine that you can program from your phone yet? It has like 20
built in things, none of which are optimal for what I want to do, why can't I
create a new program with an app and upload it to the machine?!

Time to do some research!

~~~
matwood
You don't need a machine other than a watch. You can use almost any exercise.
Keep a thirds ratio. So 1 minute full, 2 minutes not full. Or 20 seconds full,
40 seconds not full.

I have used the treadmill and just ran. Or the stationary bike. Or when I want
to really get at it I'll use the treadmill at a jog for my 'rest' and do my
full on with heavy DB snatches or something.

It is really not that complicated, and only requires that someone put in some
effort.

------
todd8
I really like reading these articles but the comments here on HN provide even
more helpful suggestions and links.

As an ex marathon runner, I'd like to add a few comments on my personal
experiences which in summary are: interval training helped me achieve my
goals, I kept total milage down to avoid injuries, and it would have been
impossible for me to do a marathon without the long slow runs every other
week.

Here are more details for those that are interested:

I started at age 50 and used the run/walk/run method promulgated by Jeff
Galloway[1]. This worked well and I ran my first marathon in 3:48 (and lost
about 25 pounds), not bad for 50 year old programmer's first real try at
running. The walking phases (about 1 minute out of every 10) seemed kind of
amateurish and so I stopped doing the run/walk/run method but found it
difficult in the subsequent years to do any better than my first marathon--the
run/walk/run method really works.

I finally qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon. I changed my training for
this and added more intervals at a track and on hills. I kept the total milage
below around 35 miles/week just to prevent overuse injuries to my aging body.

For an event like a marathon, the long, low intensity runs seem very
important. They thicken the skin on ones feet preventing blisters, they
exercise the small supporting muscles of the legs and feet which eventually
adapt to running on pavement for 26 miles without failing, and they give one
practice at efficient running style (staying relaxed and not over striding,
etc.). Furthermore, just getting a handle on ones long-distance physiology is
important, and the long runs give practice with water consumption, salt
intake, snacking to avoid bonking, dressing for the weather, and bathroom
management.

[1] [http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/run-
walk/](http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/run-walk/)

------
themgt
My favorite is to use an elliptical machine, warm up a little then crank it to
maximum resistance and just go as hard as I can until I'm done. I can induce a
"runner's high" within a few minutes that feels amazing, and I prefer it to
treadmill/cycle for the whole-body workout (you can really utilize
arms/shoulders/back/core on the elliptical)

I'm usually done within 10 minutes, and if I've been out of practice I can
certainly feel it the next day.

------
not_that_noob
For the people posting "sample size was only 25" and related comments, the
below is from the PLOS abstract. p values <0.05 indicate that the results are
not due to just chance. The p values of their results are quite low for the
test group, but large for the control group. This indicates the results are
statistically significant.

"Results

Peak oxygen uptake increased after training by 19% in both groups (SIT: 32±7
to 38±8; MICT: 34±6 to 40±8ml/kg/min; p<0.001 for both). Insulin sensitivity
index (CSI), determined by intravenous glucose tolerance tests performed
before and 72 hours after training, increased similarly after SIT (4.9±2.5 to
7.5±4.7, p = 0.002) and MICT (5.0±3.3 to 6.7±5.0 x 10−4 min-1 [μU/mL]-1, p =
0.013) (p<0.05). Skeletal muscle mitochondrial content also increased
similarly after SIT and MICT, as primarily reflected by the maximal activity
of citrate synthase (CS; P<0.001). The corresponding changes in the control
group were small for VO2peak (p = 0.99), CSI (p = 0.63) and CS (p = 0.97)."

[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075)

~~~
and-can
> p values <0.05 indicate that the results are not due to just chance

This is not how p values are used. See Gelman:

> The p-value does not tell you if the result was due to chance. It tells you
> whether the results are consistent with being due to chance. That is not the
> same thing at all.

[http://andrewgelman.com/2013/03/12/misunderstanding-the-p-
va...](http://andrewgelman.com/2013/03/12/misunderstanding-the-p-value/)

~~~
not_that_noob
Hence the use of the word 'indicate' \- entirely consistent with your cut-n-
paste.

------
ainiriand
I've been doing HIIT (freeletics.com) for over a year now and I can confirm
that the effects on my body of only a few minutes a day of exercise are far
beyond what I expected. I started as a weak person and in 8 weeks I could do
pullups easily. Now I do 50 in less than 3 minutes. It is the most extenuating
exercise that I can imagine in just about 8-10 minutes a day, 4 times per
week.

~~~
danielweber
Is there a way to use freeletics.com without Facebook?

~~~
xenonite
Yes, there is an option to sign up with only an email address.

------
brandonb
Although this is an interesting result, beware, n=25 for the whole study,
which means there were only eight people per group.

We did a data analysis on several thousand Apple Watch users, looking at
whether step count or exercise intensity really drives one key outcome (a
lower resting heart rate):

[http://blog.cardiogr.am/2016/02/12/do-you-really-
need-10000-...](http://blog.cardiogr.am/2016/02/12/do-you-really-
need-10000-steps-a-day-2/)

Like this study, our conclusion was that intensity matters most: you need to
get your heart rate above 150 to get the best benefit. In our data set, 45
minutes of exercise per week was the "knee" of the curve.

I'd actually love to run a scaled-up version of the NYT study. I think with
wearables generating so much data, we really can start to answer questions
like: "What is the best workout?" Or perhaps more importantly, "What is the
best workout for you?"

~~~
ASpring
> Although this is an interesting result, beware, n=25 for the whole study,
> which means there were only eight people per group.

I'm so tired of this comment being made about every single study that finds
itself on HN. It's a complete misunderstanding about how statistics work. The
whole point is to use a small sample to say that something about the larger
population.

~~~
vlan0
Pardon my ignorance, as my memory is a little foggy when it comes to
statistics and scientific studies, but doesn't the sample size need to be
large enough to represent the population? I forget exactly how that works.

~~~
TheCoelacanth
Yes, but virtually every published peer-reviewed study will have a large
enough sample size and will have done the math to make sure that it is large
enough.

If it's the first thing that comes to the mind of random HN commenters who
haven't even read the actual article, it's probably also going to occur to the
experts writing and reviewing the article.

Peer reviewed articles aren't perfect, but it's pretty arrogant to think that
the authors and reviewers are so bad at research that you can find problems
with them without even reading them.

------
nathan_f77
This is very interesting. I'm all about avoiding monotonous, boring, and time-
consuming exercise. At the risk of getting a small dopamine high by telling
you about my plans and then not actually doing it, I'm going to try to make a
new daily habit of stretching and then jumping around my house and doing
burpees for 1 or 2 minutes at the beginning of the day.

I've also been regularly using the Calm.com app for meditation practice. (It's
less an app and more just a recorded voice walking you through some guided
meditation.) But it's been really good, and I feel like it's having a positive
effect on my day.

I should also try to keep doing a few minutes on Duolingo. But man, forming
habits is hard.

------
nikkwong
This should be especially confusing to HN readers because it wasn't just a few
weeks ago that a similar article was posted on HN which reported that only
prolonged exercise would have any positive effects on improving cognition,
with HIIT purportedly having very minor effects on cognition.

I assume that though many of us exercise for the health effects, many do so
specifically for the benefits that exercise can have on our brains. Now after
reading this study--well, it seems our entire understanding of the subject is
inconclusive.

~~~
nathan_f77
I would also assume that a lot of us barely exercise at all. (Myself
included.) For people like us, jumping around and doing burpees for 1 minute
every morning might seem something that's achievable, and could be a very
positive thing.

------
a_rad
[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075)

In the paper the article references, it seems that the sample size is small .
n<=9 in all the three groups (Sprint interval training, Moderate intensity ,
Control) in the test. This should make it really hard to generalize this
result across the population , no?

------
mrcactu5
Isn't this the idea behind Crossfit? I was always surprised the workouts were
actually quite short maybe 10-15 minutes total of movement. Yet strangely I
was losing weight and toning up fast. From one week to the next.

Even in a real gym -- if we subtract out all the time we spend changing our
clothes, looking at our phones, talking to our friends, resting between sets,
drinking water -- it only adds up to about 5-10 minutes of real exercise.

~~~
SeripisChad
I workout at home (so no waiting on equipment) and am doing 2 minute rest
period between sets. Since I track each start and end of each set with an App
I can see my time under load.

My average is 26% of the time is workout time and 74% is rest and reconfigure
equipment.

------
martingoodson
This is a very weak result indeed. The authors have made no attempt at
accounting for multiple testing [1]. Any such correction, such as the
Bonferroni, would likely result in a negative (and less headline-worthy)
result.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_comparisons_problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_comparisons_problem)

------
mjhoy
It always surprises me how easy people take it at the gym, on bikes or the
elliptical or the treadmill. Many read the newspaper or a book, hardly break a
sweat, and seem to go for around an hour. I push myself pretty hard on the
treadmill (I find it enjoyable with the right playlist) for at most 20
minutes, and I've never felt healthier.

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revelation
Ugh, this kind of "research" keeps coming up. Yes, if you take totally
untrained people and subject them to your favorite exercising regime.. they
will improve massively.

This is pretty much true regardless of exercise regime. It tells you nothing
about the effectiveness of your regime after that initial exponential bit of
learning curve.

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hghar
This is interesting but some studies has shown that longer cardio exercises as
running for 20-30 min increase the production of neurons and gives you a
clearer mind, of course this 1 min exercise is really attractive for the "I
have only 5 min" people but I prefer the benefits from a long run.

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joelthelion
... in out of shape volunteers. I would be interested to know if the same is
true for already fit people.

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ninjavis
I think everyone who regards this post's title as clickbait need to have their
eyes checked.

It clearly says, the benefits of "x" DURING exercise. In other words,
incorporating this one minute superblast into your already active session will
lead to the benefit.

Sheesh!

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cpncrunch
One question not answered is whether this regime has similar long-term health
benefits to a longer exercise regime. They would need to compare long-term
mortality rates to really see if it is as beneficial.

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ddmma
I guess they are referring to a climax point and that momentum must be built
up.

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ak217
_and there were significant increases in the number and function of certain
microscopic structures in the men’s muscles that are related to energy
production and oxygen consumption._

AKA mitochondria - I thought that was an unnecessarily cryptic reference.

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Gratsby
This is good. That's all I have in me.

------
cloudjacker
1 minute to heart attack

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gaius
... In untrained people.

~~~
jchendy
Do we know anything about how people who are already fit respond to this kind
of exercise?

~~~
acconrad
It works for everyone. Bodybuilders use HIIT as a way to cut fat by getting a
lot of work done in a short amount of time (this is also great conditioning
work for athletes too).

The difference is a fit person who is adapted to exercise will need to do more
of it to see a benefit.

~~~
gaius
1 minute per day? Shenanigans.

~~~
soundwave106
As pointed out above, 1 minute per day is clickbait. The study used 10 minutes
per session. If you are fit, you probably will need more than a 3x20s session
on a stationary bike as well.

HIIT "works". Even with fit people. Probably especially with fit people. Think
how sprinters train for instance.

It's a bit hyped now of course. I've seen a lot on the web that puts together
a standard circuit training type exercise and calls it as "HIIT". Wrong.
Nothing wrong with circuits _at all_ , they are great, but you're not going to
get to 90% heart rate with planks. :)

"Works" too depends on your goals. "Just HIIT" is better than nothing, I'm
sure. But HIIT is (typically) cardio; for best benefit, you would also
strength train and do some mobility / flexibility training as well. Diet is an
important part of fitness as well.

I'll be honest, I personally think HIIT is a better solution _for_ the
modestly fit versus the completely untrained. HIIT is much more physically
demanding than a standard circuit or jog. Consequently, I think there is a
greater possibility of "overtraining" or over-exerting yourself, perhaps to
the point of injury. It really shouldn't be "1 minute per day" for instance
because 24 hours is probably not enough time for most people to recover from a
legitimate HIIT session.

