Scientists from McMaster University (Canada) have found that short, intense exercise sessions are just as effective as long-term workouts.
According to them, ten minutes of intense exercise provides the body with greater benefits than ten hours of moderate-intensity training.
The researchers believe their discovery will help dispel the myth that staying in shape takes a lot of time.
The conclusions were drawn from the results of experiments involving several volunteers.
Subjects were instructed to pedal a stationary bike for one minute at a speed and effort sufficient to raise their heart rate to their maximum. Participants repeated this procedure ten times, resting between exercises.
Subsequent tests showed that the subjects' muscles experienced the same improvements as if they had been exercising for a long time.
While scientists can't yet definitively explain why short-term, intense workouts are so effective, they likely stimulate the same cellular metabolic pathways as traditional, long-term exercise.
