Fitness in 7 Minutes – Backed By Science!

Have you ever skipped a workout because you didn’t have enough time for it in your busy day? It makes sense – going to the gym, taking an exercise class, or heading out for a long-distance run can easily eat up a huge amount of your free time, not to mention getting to your exercise location, changing your clothes, and showering afterwards.

But “not enough time” is about to cease to be a reasonable excuse, because thanks to the American College of Sports Medicine, you can get the same benefits of a long run and a trip to the weight room in just seven minutes.

Maximal Results With Minimum Investment

That’s what the American College of Sports Medicine subtitled their article on the 7 minute circuit. The publication was the result of a review of multiple studies looking at High-Intensity Circuit Training, in which the researchers determined what the most effective parameters for this type of exercise are: use of alternating muscle groups, thirty second bouts of intense exercise with ten second rests in between, and individual exercises that alternately increase and decrease heart rate.

7 Hard Minutes With Results

If you’ve ever done high intensity interval training before, you’ll know that it’s called intense for a reason. The researchers at the American College of Sports Medicine have no qualms about admitting that the 7 minute circuit is difficult, reporting that for optimum results participants should be working at about an 8 on a 1 to 10 scale of discomfort.

The upside, though, is that it’s only seven minutes of discomfort. Of course, you can repeat the circuit twice or even three times if you’re feeling up to it, and this is the ACSM’s recommendation for reaching your fullest potential, but research has shown that even four minutes of high intensity exercise can be extremely beneficial.

Ready to Get Started?

All you need is your own body, a chair, a wall, and a stopwatch. Just follow along with this diagram, spending thirty seconds on each exercise before taking a ten second break and moving onto the next one. What else are you going to do with the next seven minutes?

Have you tried the 7 minute circuit? What was it like?

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