Seven minutes of hell

With exams drawing near, many think setting aside time for a dedicated workout is simply not worth it. The mere idea of walking to Ethos makes you die a little inside. Long-drawn lectures and revision means the treadmill is off the agenda on weekdays, so you settle for that walk to the library, the occasional sprint to the toilet. 30-minute run? Forget it – that would mean a shower, makeup (hear hear, females), and that would be your weekday or weekend evening gone. Friends, there is a small saving grace.

You may have heard of the Scientific Seven-minute Workout, and if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard of HIIT, otherwise known as high intensity interval training. But what exactly is this seven-minute specialty?

It is, essentially, a workout that encompasses the benefits of HIIT in one lovely manageable burst, with the most scientific data to back it up. I’m one of the late ones on this having just recently discovered it in the dusty corners of the Internet (circa 2014, would you believe it?). HIIT is a common method used to spike the metabolism, by alternating between intense bursts of exercise, and then less intense exercise or complete rest. By tapping quickly into anaerobic reserves, it has been proven to increase endurance by at least 11% after its incorporation three times weekly, improve overall cardiovascular health, and believe it or not, increase production of the human growth hormone by up to 450% during the 24 hours after your workout.

Its label, being what it is, prompted me to research the science behind this phenomenon. All you need is a chair and a wall. The exercises themselves are very simple, all of which everyone has tried before. Cue pushups, jumping jacks, and chair step-ups. The sequence of exercises, that should be done with maximum intensity and in rapid succession, are designed to increase fat oxidation capacity and boost your metabolism like nothing else by the end of it. I do believe the label has been a little misinterpreted because there hasn’t been a proper experimental trial, though the benefits of short, intense HIIT workouts are sound, drastically improving cardio-metabolic health and insulin sensitivity.

Having tried this myself recently, I can say I definitely felt its effects almost immediately. If anything, seven minutes of HIIT gets your blood pumping, heart rate up, and metabolism going. So if you’re one of those who think a short run in Hyde Park is the equivalent of drawing blood from a stone on your hungover Saturday morning, I beg you to rethink your fitness agenda.