The 7-minute (really 8-minute) workout and app

In a previous post I described High Intensity Intermittent Exercise (HIIE), also called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), using the following passage from Wikipedia:

'What is HIIT (Wikipedia)? "[It] is an enhanced form of interval training, an exercise strategy alternating periods of short intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods. The original protocol set a 2:1 ratio of work to recovery periods, for example, 30–40 seconds of hard sprinting alternated with 15–20 seconds of jogging or walking. The entire HIIT session may last between ten and thirty minutes, meaning that it is considered to be an excellent way to maximize a workout that is limited on time."

Thus you alternate short bursts (e.g. 30 seconds) of intense exercise with a short rest period (e.g. 15 seconds) over the course of 10 to 30 minutes. The attraction is that you can get a good workout in a limited amount of time; the disadvantage is that the workout is very intense ("the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10"). A New York Times article describes some of the science behind this type of training regimen:

“There’s very good evidence” that high-intensity interval training provides “many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time."

The basic idea is that "even a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding."

The article goes on to describe a workout program, termed High-Intensity Circuit Training (HICT, sorry for another acronym) developed for the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal. This program reduces the total workout to 7-8 minutes:

"To address the limitations of traditional exercise protocols and provide an effective and efficient program for our clients, one of the exercise strategies we use is high-intensity circuit training (HICT) using body weight as resistance. Our approach combines aerobic and resistance training into a single exercise bout lasting approximately 7 minutes."

There are 12 exercises that do not require any special equipment (other than a chair and wall). You perform each of the exercises for 30 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. The program is as follows:

1. Jumping jacks
2. Wall sit
3. Push-up
4. Abdominal crunch
5. Step up onto chair
6. Squat
7. Triceps dip on chair
8. Plank
9. Running in place with knees high
10. Lunge
11. Push-up and rotation
12. Side plank

A description of each exercise can be obtained from the diagram below (Figure 1), or by Googling the exercise name. Note that the order is important because there is "alternating an exercise that emphasizes the large muscles in the upper body with those in the lower body."

Although the authors title the program the "7-minute workout", when you add up the time, it is 12 * (30 + 10) = 480 seconds or 8 minutes (or 470 seconds if you leave out the last 10s rest). It should really be called the 8-minute workout.

Anyways the New York Times developed a web app that takes you through the workout with a timer that counts down each of the exercises and rest periods. Instructions on installing the app can be found here. One remark about the web app is that it requires a good internet connection or else it will freeze.

I have attempted this workout, and it is very exhausting the first few times; it will take time to become acclimated to the high-intensity, and you may not finish initially. But stick with it.

Figure 1. 7-minute (really 8-minute) high-intensity circuit training (from the NYTimes).