Using brief but intense bursts of exercise, people struggling to get even the minimum recommended amount of physical activity may now have a quick, but not necessarily easy fix, according to a new study led by Kyle Sevits' team from Colorado State University and the University of Colorado.
This possible fix is called sprint interval training, which involves intense periods of exercise followed by extended periods of rest, the New York Daily News reported.
Scientists have long known of interval training's health benefits, but they have never really understood its relation to weight loss.
In order to learn more about this relationship, Sevits and his team surveyed five healthy men between the ages of 25 and 31. For three days, the men were fed a controlled diet and their energy balance was maintained.
For two days after that, the amount of calories the men burned was closely monitored and they spent most of their time being sedentary.
However, at the beginning of one of those two days, the men performed sprint interval training: five 30-second bouts of "all-out" sprints on cycles, with four minutes of very easy cycling in between.
Also Read
Even though they were sedentary for the rest of the day, the men burned 200 more calories on the day they sprinted than on the day they did not do the exercise.
This supports the idea that sprint interval training is "a time-efficient alternative to endurance exercise" like walking and jogging, the study claimed.
While scientists are still not sure if this could help with weight loss, they do believe the study suggests interval training can be seen as a strategy for weight maintenance.
"Burning an extra 200 calories from these exercises a couple of times a week can help keep away that pound or two that many Americans gain each year," Sevits said.
In all, the researcher believes this study might help people stick to their exercise routines.
"Research shows that many people start an exercise programme but just can't keep it up," Sevits said.
"We hope if exercise can be fit into a smaller period of time, then they may give exercise a go and stick with it," he added.