Three Minutes A Day Of Exercise is Enough To Improve Your Health
A newly released Scottish study found that just three minutes a day of exercise can significantly improve your health. Huh? I’m not one to be left speechless often, but this new finding defies explanation. First we hear the recommended guidelines for maintaining good health are 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week of moderate exercise. Then, the National Registry for Weight-loss revealed that most people who have lost weight and kept it off for two years or more exercise at least 5 days a week of vigorous exercise for an hour a day. My personal favorite recommendation for how long we should exercise came from running experts who coined “90 is the new 60.”
I exercise 7 days a week for 2 hours a day. Now I know that is not typical and not realistic for most people. However, I’m more ‘more is more’ rather than the ‘less is more ‘ if I were to be completely honest with you. I think that exercise should be intense, full of variety, and done for at least 45 minutes to an hour a day. Every day. I never quite understood the so-called fitness experts who recommend taking the weekend off or every other day in between working out. First of all, exercise is a habit. If you do not foster and nurture this habit, it will become a choice. And I ask you, if you were given the choice to workout or not, which choice would you make?
The other reason I believe in exercising every day is the weekends are the time when food and alcohol consumption are at their highest. This is the time, if there ever was one, to step up the exercise. Even though I am of the ‘more is more’ philosophy, I am by no means insane when it comes to exercise. People who work out 3-4 hours a day are not only in need of a head check, but are actually doing their body harm by overexercising. I am a moderate ‘more is more’ type of woman. But, if this study was to be believed that 3 minutes a day of exercise is all we need to see results, then I am in LaLa Land. This isn’t even ‘less is more.’ Maybe it is ‘anything is better than nothing.’
In the Scottish study, adults who did six 30 second sprints on the exercise bike with rests in between for a total of 3 minutes, “improved their body’s ability to metabolize blood sugar by 25% after six sessios.” As of this weren’t unbelieveable enough, they also lowered their risks of diabetes and heart disease. Interesting.
The good news about this is I will never have to hear from people again the ubiqitous excuse of “I just don’t have time to exercise.” Hogwash to that now! I challenge anyone to say they can’t spare three minutes of their day to improving their health.
I am not swayed by the findings of the 3 minute rule enough to practice it in my life anytime soon. However, if you are currently doing nothing and are inspired by the 3 minute a day rule of exercise, by all means put on your sneakers immediately.
If you truly only have 3 minutes a day to exercise, I think push-ups, squats, and planks make for a good 3 minute trio. They work major muscle groups simultaneously, require no equipment other than your own body weight, and are effective in small doses. For 3 minutes, do 10 push-ups, 20 squats, and a 30 second plank on your elbows. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat the series for a total of 3 minutes. As you get stronger, lessen the rest time in between sets.
Perhaps the best result of this study is that exercise, even in the smallest of quantities makes a difference to your overall health. If 3 minutes does every thing this study says it does, then imagine the benefits to your health and body, if you were to exercise intensely an hour a day.
Tags: 3 minute workout, in shape in minutes, quickie workouts, quickk workouts