Advertisement

Why exercise classes are a waste of your time

Gym classes; there's something about the music, the soothing synchronicity and the hint of shame if you can't keep up with your fellow gym bunnies that motivates us.

But - like everyone - we're time poor. Who's got hours to spend at the gym these days?

RELATED: Here's the Victoria's Secret workout you need to do to look like a model
RELATED: Jesinta Campbell shows off her toned abs and talks about her grueling workouts

In a new study that might just completely change the way you work out, researchers at McMaster University have found that one minute of intense exercise has the same effect on your body as 45 minutes of a moderate sweat session.

Source: Giphy
Source: Giphy

The study looked at three groups of men who weren’t regular gym goers. One group stayed their inactive, couch potato selves while the second group did an exercise routine involving a warm up, followed by 45 minutes of moderate cycle, then a cool down. In total, it came to 50 minutes of exercise.

Source: Giphy
Source: Giphy

The other group embarked on a high intensity interval training regime of a two-minute bike warm up, followed by 20 seconds of sprinting, and then a slow pedal for two minutes. They did this for 10 minutes, meaning their sprint time came to one minute in total.

After 12 weeks, researchers found the results for group two and three – so the 50 minute workouts, and the intense one minute workouts – were nearly identical.

Source: Giphy
Source: Giphy

Despite an exercise volume and time commitment five times less than those men slogging it out on the exercise bikes, men who did interval training received equal health benefits.

Even if the news won’t change you’re die-hard spin class ways, it's good to know on days you only have time for a quick 10 minute sweat session.

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram