If you're having difficulty keeping your resolution to exercise 30 minutes a day, 5-days-a-week, then you're going to like this study.Researches put young men through some very brief, but strenuous, workouts and found their sensitivity to insulin (and so their blood sugar levels) improved:
Extremely Short Duration High Intensity Interval Training Substantially Improves Insulin Action In Young Healthy Males, BMC Endocrine Disorders, January 2009
A total of 16 men, average age 21, underwent 6 sessions of exercise over 14 days.
A session of exercise consisted of:
- 30 seconds of cycling as fast as possible
- 4 minutes of rest
- The above repeated 4 to 6 times
Compared to before training (baseline):
- Postprandial glucose levels declined 12% (measured by AUC: Area Under the Curve)
- Postprandial insulin levels declined 37% (AUC)
- Postprandial free fatty acid levels declined 26% (AUC)
- Insulin sensitivity improved 23% (measured by Cederholm index)
- Aerobic cycling performance improved 6%
"The efficacy of a high intensity exercise protocol, involving only ~250 kcal of work each week, to substantially improve insulin action in young sedentary subjects is remarkable. This novel time-efficient training paradigm can be used as a strategy to reduce metabolic risk factors in young and middle aged sedentary populations who otherwise would not adhere to time consuming traditional aerobic exercise regimes."
