Bang for your Butt

A friend was asking me the other day, “What gives you the most bang for the buck in a workout?” What a great question. With Covid, kids doing online schooling, and with the work/life balance changing every 13.33 seconds, working out from home is becoming more of a necessity than a choice. But honestly, I kind of like it. Shhhh!

The questions is, what is the most effective exercise you can do for the minimum amount of time? How little can I do to get/stay fit? 

In defining fitness, let’s consider:

Strength: withstanding or applying pressure.

Strength-Endurance: ability of a muscle or group of muscles to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended period of time.

Aerobic Capacity: measure of the ability of the heart and lungs to get oxygen to the muscles.

My typical answer to this ‘bang for buck’ question is “If you only have 10 minutes or less, do some hill sprints.” Find a hill, sprint up as fast as possible (once properly warmed up of course), walk it down. Once you’ve caught your breath 90%, go again. This workout is good for cardiovascular health, muscle endurance, aerobic capacity, and overall fitness. If you don’t have a hill or live somewhere flat, regular sprints with recoveries are a great alternative. Even as short as 5-10 seconds all out, you will get a great return on your time spent. Sprint workouts show massive improvements for only minutes of work per week.

To improve strength, endurance, and aerobic capacity, researchers came up with a “7 minute workout.” This workout was designed to improve these three capacities in as little time as possible. 

Each movement is to be performed for 30 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between exercises. 

1. Jumping jacks

2. Wall sits

3. Push-ups

4. Crunches

5. Step ups

6. Squats

7. Dips

8. Plank

9. High knees

10. Lunges

11. Push-ups with rotation

12. Side plank 

These basic bodyweight movements, tested on groups of men and women who were divided into 3 groups:

1. 7-minute circuit training workout 3 times a week

2. 14-minute circuit training workout 3 times a week (did this twice)

3. Sedentary

Can you guess the outcome? Both groups enjoyed improvements in muscular endurance Males in both groups got stronger, and the females improved their aerobic capacity. Training for 14 minutes wasn’t necessary to achieve positive results. 

One study looked at adult females performing a single 4-minute TABATA (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest) with 4 different movements: burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks and squat thrusts. They did a single movement 4 times a week for 4 weeks. (Just 4 minutes a day!) They saw improvements in strength from baseline in leg extension, chest press, sit ups, push-ups, and back extensions. In just 16 MINUTES of work a week! 

Another study compared 3 groups of individuals: sedentary, 30 minutes of exercise per day and 60 minutes of exercise per day. Compared to the sedentary group, both 30 and 60 minutes saw similar decreases in bodyweight, and body fat. Metabolism increased more in the 60-minute group, but oxygen capacity increased more in the 30-minute group. The 30-minute group had a slight caloric deficit greater than the 60-minute group, indicating that we typically overcompensate our calories when we exercise for longer periods. So be aware of this, we tend to over compensate calories when we workout longer.

Finally, to control your blood sugar, walking is key. Yes, walking. Even walking for just 15 minutes post-meal, is enough to blunt the spike in blood sugar after you eat. Brisk walking can cut your volume of walks per day down further. 

To maintain cardiovascular fitness, do five 4-minute intense intervals once every 2 weeks.

To improve conditioning & muscular endurance, do a TABATA style workout a few times per week for 8 minutes. (burpees, squats, lunges, etc.)

To improve overall fitness, a 7-minute bodyweight workout is sufficient 3 times per week.

To increase insulin sensitivity & metabolic health, do sprints four times for 30 seconds with 4 minutes of rest, 3 times per week.

To reduce blood sugar spikes, walk 15 minutes after each meal.

Very important and not to be forgotten: mindful movement, such as YOGA, is a great activity for you if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease. It gives you strength, flexibility, and mind-body awareness. It has a calming effect to lower your stress level and help you maintain balance.

Now, you do all of these and you’re overtraining, but you pick a few and listen to your body. You will have a great crossover effect and see improvements in multiple areas!