I thought I was getting off lightly this week. Speedflex, a circuit-based training system, has just launched a new 15-minute “coffee-break” workout designed for very busy people.
Now, I know there must be people who are so busy that they can only afford 15 minutes in the gym. But then there’s everyone else. Normal, sensible people. People who could spend more time in the gym, but don’t want to.
I am one of those people. I will happily pretend, to Speedflex and myself, that 15 minutes is the very most I can spare because I am so inordinately time poor, what with all the things I have to do.
There is only one problem. It’s cheating. It has to be. Why else would anyone bother with an hour of misery if 15 minutes of misery was just as good? Alarmingly, there is a chance that it might not be cheating. Scientists in Ontario recruited 25 unfit guinea pigs for a recent study. Half of them spent three months doing traditional 45-minute spin classes. The other half did 10-minute workouts, each of which included just 1 minute of strenuous pedalling. At the end of the study, group A had ridden for 27 hours. Group B had done a mere 36 minutes at full intensity. The result? Both groups experienced the same increase in fitness.
This wasn’t an anomaly. Other research corroborates the idea that a bit of exercise can be more beneficial than a lot of exercise. But there is a catch. The short period has to hurt.
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Still, 15 minutes? How bad can it be? On one side of the Speedflex gym, there is a large digital clock. On the other side, there is a monitor showing my heart rate. Between them stands Sonjia, the necessarily ruthless instructor.
She begins with a two-minute warm-up, which is great. It means there are only 13 minutes left to go. But then it’s time for the first proper circuit. There are six bodyweight machines, each offering a different type of lift or pull. I spend 30 seconds on the first one, rest for five seconds and then do burpees for 30 seconds. Then it’s onto the second machine, and repeat. The whole circuit takes six minutes with one minute’s rest. Six minutes is nothing. Six minutes is completely exhausting.
The second circuit is harder. Thirty seconds on the clean-and-jerk machine, five seconds rest, 30 seconds doing side steps on and off a little box, and repeat.
I lose track of the time. I’m all over the place on the little box. Frankly, it’s embarrassing. My heart rate is at 90% — the red zone — and I’m desperate for it to end. But it doesn’t. It goes on and on. For just five minutes.
“That’s it,” says Sonjia. “Now rest for 30 seconds.”
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I tell her I’ll need more than 30 seconds before the next circuit.
“No, we’ve finished,” she replies. “We just have the one-minute warm-down.”
I can’t tell you which is tougher: an hour of normal exercise or 15 minutes with Sonjia. But at least with the latter you can have a 15-minute lie-down and you’re still half an hour up on the deal.
Flex 15 sessions from £5 in London, Newcastle, Leeds, Southampton, West Byfleet, Reigate and Cork; speedflex.com
Health Hacks: How to do a low-fat Christmas
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Go turkey
Turkey is a lean bird: low in fat and a good source of protein. Roast it, strip the skin off it and eat the breast rather than leg or thigh.
Diet gravy
Decant your turkey juices into a jug and wait until the fat rises to the surface. Then spoon it off. Your gravy will be just as tasty.
Stuff sausage
Stuff your turkey, by all means, but use fruit and/or nuts rather than sausage meat. Chestnuts are the best low-fat option available.
Out with oil
Roast potatoes and vegetables are delicious without being drowned in oil or goose fat. Season with salt, paprika and pepper instead.
— NHS Choices