How Short Can a Workout Be and Still Be Effective?
Ultra-short exercise protocols typically have this life cycle: First, the researcher asks a question that can be answered with an incredibly short workout. They then conduct research that shows people doing it have improved some aspects of their fitness. The New York Times writes about this further. And finally, it becomes a topic that is talked about on Youtube channels and disseminated to people who have the impression that this is a good separate workout. Think of a seven minute workout or HIIT more generally.
The last lion cub in this circle of life has just been born, and this is a four second workout that I read about (surprise) in the New York Times . And I think it’s time for us to sit down and intervene a little.
Nobody does a 4-second workout properly.
The shorter the workout, the more people think, “Oh hey, I could write that!”
But the difficulty of getting yourself to exercise doesn’t really have much to do with the amount of time it takes. I mean, of course, 30 minutes is easier to do than 90. But is 20 really less of a hurdle than 30? Is the entire 10-minute workout experience (including dressing up and warm-up) different from the 20-minute workout? I would say that it is not.
And with the shortening of the time, the nature of the exercises changes dramatically. Researchers often point out that their subjects must work incredibly hard to follow the laboratory protocol correctly; most people exercising on their own simply will not achieve this unless they are trained athletes.
Moreover, we have different settings. Tabatas (20 seconds hard, 10 seconds rest) and Wingate sprints (30 seconds hard, four minutes rest) are designed to be performed on an investigator-assigned resistance bike with you in the lab. A four-second workout is carried out on a special type of bicycle with a promotional move, in which a four-second workout is the main “advantage” of the bike. It is unlikely that you will come close to the same workout doing burpees in the living room or hitting the resistance buttons on your bike in the gym.
As we discussed earlier in relation to the HIIT trend , people who think they are doing super short and super effective workouts have much lower intensity than they thought. These workouts also tend to mix up different types of exercise (strength, cardio, etc.) to the point where you may not realize the benefits of any of them.
So, can you do a four-second workout yourself, such as running uphill repeatedly? Maybe someone will succeed. But when you do the prescribed number of rounds and add the required rest periods, you are already down to a 15-minute workout anyway.
Short workouts shouldn’t be your routine.
Let’s talk about another popular form of short workouts. The “grease the groove” approach involves splitting up a lot of work throughout the day. You will be doing a set of pull-ups once an hour, maybe every hour – and it’s true that if you do this day in and day out, you’ll get an impressive number of belt pull-ups.
But what’s the use of doing only pull-ups? This is a great approach for improving your pull-ups outside of your regular workout routine; it does not replace a more general exercise program. If that’s all you do, you’re missing leg strength, pushing power, cardio, and more. It takes strength and cardio to be healthy and fit .
Remember, the exercise guidelines recommend that we all do at least 75–150 minutes per week , not including strength training. You can walk for 150 minutes, jog for 75 minutes, or come up with your own set of activities to keep you busy. If you want to use 45 of those minutes for a few 15-minute sessions, that’s fine, but that won’t get you rid of the rest.
Minimalistic workouts are not the best option for most of us.
Super short workouts are good for two people:
1. Those who would otherwise do absolutely nothing
and
2. Those who already have a solid base of strength and aerobic fitness and just need a little break.
If you are in the first group, congratulations on the beginning of your fitness journey! Better to walk one block than sit on the couch. It is better to do 10 air squats than zero. Walking up the stairs a few times, even if it only takes a few minutes, is an absolute improvement over doing nothing at all.
But then you take the next step towards fitness by doing more .
Likewise, the world of strength and conditioning is full of stories of successful athletes who have won medals and set personal records after spending months on a minimalist program. But these people were not newcomers who started their sports careers in this way; they already had a massive physical base, and their bodies could take advantage of the additional recovery and specialization that minimalist training can provide.
How to determine which super short workouts can help you
I’m not saying that no one should ever do short workouts, just think about what we are doing and why.
First, do you fall into one of the above two categories – totally inexperienced and extremely experienced? Do this and just use your common sense.
For the rest of us, super short workouts can still be an option in addition to our regular activities. If you want to improve a particular lift or skill, frequent training (like lubricating grooves) can help in addition to your regular strength program.
Likewise, if you do a lot of cardio, a short interval workout or two can be a good addition. You don’t need a special protocol developed in the laboratory; Proven routines developed by athletes and coaches are likely to be smarter choices. We’ve got a rundown of speed work for runners ; this is a good place to start.
But how short are we talking?
So how short can any workout be and still be effective? It depends entirely on what else you are doing, just as foods are not “healthy” or “unhealthy” in and of themselves , but must be considered in the context of your entire diet.
I would say that if you are looking at a workout less than 20 minutes long , you should ask yourself what this workout adds to your life and if it replaces something more effective. Most of the time, you would probably be more happy with results from 30 minutes of normal cardio than 10 minutes of vomiting-worthy intervals, and that definitely beats 10 minutes of what should have been hard, but ultimately light cardio.
The most important question to ask yourself at this moment of introspection is whether you are shirking the hard work. Hard work and consistency are essential ingredients for fitness success, whether you’re trying to win competitions or just being tough, strong, and well-rounded. You get better by finding ways to do more safely and efficiently, rather than making excuses to do less.