Just five minutes of exercise, Z?  Really?  How is that possible?  The short answer is yes.  Five minutes of exercise has been shown to have a definite, positive effect on our health and wellbeing. 

Of course, there are other factors to consider – diet, weight, genetic predispositions, smokers vs. nonsmokers.  Still, this recent study demonstrated that five minutes of exercise has a whole host of benefits to our health.  The study focused on running, but that didn’t force the researchers to conclude that running exclusively was necessary to draw benefits from at least five minutes of exercise.    

An insightful New York Times article provided even more information regarding the details of this study.  For example, regardless of the average length of time individuals ran – from five minutes to two hours – runners were 30 percent less likely to die from a cardiovascular-related disease than those who remained sedentary.  

Recently I’ve been implementing some workouts based around five minute routines.  While these routines are meant to be quick bursts of movement when time is at a premium there is now some definite science behind the benefits of such quick, powerful workouts.

Some of you might still be thinking that study focused on running – quite different than the Zgym.  That, again, is not necessarily the case.  The Zgym is focused on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).  HIIT has been routinely demonstrated as being more effective and efficient for our overall cardiovascular health than steady-state exercises such as running and walking. 

Also, bear in mind that Dr. Timothy Church, the professor and scientist who co-authored the study on the benefits of running at least five minutes a day, insists that it’s not running in particular that provides such dramatic results to our health, but strenuous exercise.  In fact, Church is quoted in the New York Times piece stating: “There’s not necessarily something magical about running…Running just happens to be the most convenient way for most people to exercise intensely.” 

Bear in mind though that if your goals are weight loss, muscle building or athletic training, five minutes is probably not going to be enough.  However, if all you have is five minutes to workout on any given day, then do it!  It’s proven to be better than doing nothing at all!

No excuses, Warriors!  I know you have five minutes!  Let’s do this!