How Even Super-Short Workouts Can Improve Your Health

Federal guidelines say U.S. adults should get at least 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or 150 minutes of less-intense activity, each week. But over the past few years, a slew of studies have promoted the benefits of getting much, much less exercise than that. One 2022 study found that squeezing in just three one-minute bursts of vigorous activity each day could lead to a longer life.

 How to Fit in a Real Workout When You Have Only 20 Minutes

When you can't dedicate as much time to training as you might like, here's how to keep your priorities straight—without feeling guilty.

 Really, Really Short Workouts

Think you’re too busy to work out? We have the workout for you. In minutes, high-intensity interval training (H.I.I.T.) will have you sweating, breathing hard and maximizing the health benefits of exercise without the time commitment. Best of all, it’s scientifically proven to work.

 Short bursts of physical activity during daily life may lower risk of premature death – new research

Most of us know that regular exercise is important for our health and longevity. But with our busy schedules, many of us struggle to find the time to fit in a workout. Data from our latest study has shown that you don’t need a lengthy workout to get health benefits from exercise. The research revealed that as little as three or four minutes of short, vigorous activity bursts throughout the day were associated with a substantially lower risk of premature death from all causes compared with people who did none.

 The 30 Minute Workout You Can Do Anywhere

Fact of life: working out is never easy. But there are a couple things you can do to make it easier. One: keep your session to an efficient, effective 30 minutes. Two: find a routine that doesn't require any equipment, so you can do it anywhere. Three: did we mention it only takes 30 minutes?

 The five-minute fix: how to improve your fitness, strength and posture at super-quick speed

In the time it takes to make a cup of tea, you can build your core muscles, increase hip flexibility and stave off the effects of sitting at your desk all day

 The perfect ways to get fit – in 20 seconds, an hour or six months

Making time for exercise can be difficult because of work, family commitments or cost. Here’s how to squeeze it in, whatever your schedule.

 This 22-Minute Workout Has Everything You Need

It's easy to feel too busy to exercise — and maybe spending an hour at the gym isn't realistic. But what about finding time for a 20-minute workout at home? Well ... 22 minutes, to be exact.

 This 5-Minute Arm Workout with Dumbbells Fits Into Any Schedule

In a rush to squeeze in a few reps? All you need is a few minutes, a set of dumbbells, and a little space to crank out this quick arm workout.

 Tight on Time? How to Make the Most of a Short Workout.

Combining resistance training and cardio will get your heart pumping, even if you only have 15 or 20 minutes to spare. Maybe in a perfect world, you’d devote an hour a day to fitness, a finely tuned program of strength training and cardio. In the real world, it can be difficult. That’s OK, experts say: Even shorter bouts of exercise can have health benefits.

 Try This 10-Minute Workout for a Fast Dose of Fitness

Walk your hands out on the floor into a high plank, then walk the hands back up to meet the feet and roll up to standing. Complete five reps.

A 10-Minute Workout Can Do More Than You Think

Even fitness in short bursts can benefit those getting no exercise

Carry Your Groceries, Take the Stairs: Short, Intense Movement Can Improve Your Health

A new study confirms that you don’t have to do a hard workout to reap the longevity rewards of exercise.

Does 1-Minute Interval Training Work? We Ask The Guy Who Tested It

In his book The One Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That's Smarter, Faster, Shorter, which comes out Tuesday, Gibala explains the physiology and history of interval training and includes a dozen workouts. And yes, one of them is based on just one minute of hard exercise (with another nine minutes of warm-up, recovery periods and cool-down), which in a small study conducted by Gibala and colleagues improved markers of health comparably to a 45-minute session of steady, moderate exercise.

Exercise: what’s the bare minimum I can do?

Modern high-intensity workouts are seductively short – but do they offer the same life-extending benefits as established exercise regimes?

HIIT workouts: just 15 minutes of intense activity can improve heart health

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts have become popular in recent years for a number of reasons. They don’t require as much time as a regular workout (some can take as little as 10 minutes), and research shows they improve fitness, lower blood pressure and help people better manage their blood sugar levels – which may aid in weight loss and prevent disease, such as type 2 diabetes. And recently, a review has found that a form of HIIT workout called low-volume HIIT has benefits on cardiometabolic health. That means low-volume HIIT could induce similar – or greater – improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, blood sugar control, blood pressure and cardiac function compared to continuous aerobic exercise (such as a five-mile run).

It’s all good: Any exercise cuts risk of death, study finds

Weekend warriors, take a victory lap. People who pack their workouts into one or two sessions a week lower their risk of dying over roughly the next decade nearly as much as people who exercise more often, new research suggests. Even people who get less exercise than recommended have less risk than folks who don’t break a sweat at all.

Lean In: The Ultimate 10-Minute Office Workout

While we can't always escape for a lunch-break workout, these moves are the next best thing. Physique57 instructor Shannon Smith shares a 10-move quickie workout you can do right in your office—or any available conference room.

No time to exercise? Just 5 minutes still has a big impact

Amping up the intensity of everyday activities—like charging up the stairs or carrying heavy groceries—can lower the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Only Have 20 Minutes? Three Short Workouts to Squeeze in...

These three high-intensity workouts can all be done at home with minimal equipment. They take 20 minutes or less, so you can sneak in a session while the holiday cookies are baking.

The Ultimate Interval Training Workouts for When You're Super Short On Time

Interval training is meant to be tough but quick, so you can work harder (and smarter) not longer. Check out these interval training workout routines for inspiration.

These 20-minute HIIT workouts are all you need to get in shape

These short workouts are just as effective as a full gym session.

We make exercise way too complicated. Here's how to get it right

Incredibly, with all the science that has been done on how to exercise, what we know about what works for fitness is almost embarrassingly simple — yet we have invented myriad ways to cloud, over-complicate, and obscure these basic, common-sense truths:

What Americans Keep Getting Wrong About Exercise

The New York Times’ Gretchen Reynolds has gone from writing about a six-minute workout to a three-second workout. Who’s actually doing these?

What's the Least Amount of Exercise I Need to Do to Look Good?

Most of us don’t know how to get lean without wasting our time.

Why 15 Minutes of Exercise Is Enough to Transform Your Health in 2024

You don't have to devote yourself to long workouts to see a difference. Just 15 minutes is a lot more powerful than it seems.

Why a Few Minutes of Exercise Can Show Results

Short workouts have exploded with a wider array of apps and digital videos; a quick hit of yoga or climbing the stairs

You should take a 5-minute walk for every 30 minutes of sitting

Exercise 'snacks' can lower blood pressure and blood sugar.

Your Seven-Minute Workout Sucks

A new study suggests high-intensity intervals aren’t magic.