"The Scientific 7-Minute Workout"

At the risk of being accused of emulating my daughter,  Christina Sinclair (what better compliment to her?) I have decided to post on the physical aspects of being human.  After all this blog, as well as my wellness practice, is about body, mind, and soul health. 
  I have spent years espousing how important it is to take care of our bodies, and I am convinced that  it honors our creator to do so.  Many times I have referred to 1 Corinthians 12:14-20  "...there are many parts but only one body..."  Please read it as a great reminder that how we treat one part of our body will effect each and every other part.  Just as I have spelled-out in my online store  here , each and every thing you put in or on your body, what you eat, how much you exercise, or your sleep habits,  will have either a positive or a negative effect on your overall health. 

A local one-day ski trip with my son, Anthony in 2012

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I am a die-hard exercise enthusiast.  I play tennis, beach volleyball, run, hike, snow-ski, wake-board, lift weights, do yoga, pilates, barre classes, and "HIIT" classes.  I earned a second-degree blackbelt in Taeknondo in my forties. Call me crazy but a lot of my fun comes from the above activities.  I also love the challenge of trying something new. The best part is, Christina is my instructor of choice so I get to spend time with her too!

Like a lot of you there are days when I think I am just too busy to work out.  News flash! According to new scientific studies, that can no longer be an excuse for any of us, nor do we need any expensive equipment. Here is a chart which is an example of  a 7-minute "high intensity interval training" workout.  You can find many online and once you 'get it', you can make up your own.

**Be careful stepping-up on the chair and always keep your chest up when doing a squat.

"A recent article in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal¹ shows how you can fulfill the requirements for a high intensity exercise using nothing more than your own body weight, a chair, and a wall.

Best of all, this science-backed routine only requires a seven minute investment, as the program calls for as little as 10- to 15-seconds of rest between each 30-second exercise, which should be performed in rapid succession.

As reported by the New York Times²:

“'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,' says Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of the new article.”

The health benefits of high intensity interval training are well-established at this point, and include:

 

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Significantly improving your insulin sensitivity, especially if you're on a low-processed food-, low-sugar/low-grain diet	Optimizing your cholesterol ratios, when combined with a proper diet	Boosting fat metabolism and optimizing your body fat percentage (as a result of improved conservation of sugar and glycogen in your muscles)
Virtually eliminating type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure	Naturally boosting your levels of human growth hormone (HGH)	Increasing your aerobic capacity

                                                                                                           

One of the added boons of this 7-minute program is that since you don’t need any equipment, you can easily take this routine with you when traveling. You’d be hard-pressed to find a hotel room that doesn’t at least have a chair in it. When done at the appropriate intensity, which should hover around 8 on a scale of 1-10, the following 12 exercises, which are outlined in the report, equate to doing a long run and a weight-training session.

 Examining data from participants in the reality TV show "The Biggest Loser,” researchers found that diet alone was responsible for more weight loss than exercise, but only 65 percent of that weight loss was body fat. The remaining 35 percent reduction in total body weight was a reduction in lean muscle mass. Exercise alone resulted in fat loss only, along with a small increase in lean muscle mass."    source

Here's the conclusion:  eat healthy and make sure you also exercise.   You need those muscles, plus a muscular body needs more calories so you can eat more!   Seven minutes a day is a good place to start.  When I do "HIIT" workouts I usually do 5 exercises, a minute each (I use the timer on my iphone), and I do them four times each, resting only one minute after each set of the 5 exercises.  All of this in just 24 minutes.  Here's one of my sequences: sit-ups, squats, knee-highs, push-ups (I start w/ regular then go to my knees), jumping jacks or jump rope (if you have the room).  X 4  Try it and let me know how you like it.     
Very soon I will address how your thoughts can have either a positive or a negative effect on your body, mind, soul health too so make sure that you check-in regularly.