The weekly recommended dose of exercise includes at least two or three sessions of resistance training, 150 minutes of cardiovascular activities, along with a healthy nutrition intake. Time is a major investment to live a healthy lifestyle. However, time happens to be a constraint for many, who end up crunching the time dedicated to exercise, or worse, become inconsistent in their fitness routines. The 7-minute workout, a well-planned short-duration exercise session, could make a difference here.
However, is working out for just seven minutes enough?
What is a 7-minute workout?
According to an article published in The Health Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, high intensity circuit training is a combination of both aerobic training and body-weight resistance training, done in seven minutes. The exercises are done at a high intensity with limited rest.
“A 7-minute workout works on the fact that training the whole body in a shorter time frame would help burn more calories throughout the day than steady state cardio,” says Sunil Kumar, a fitness trainer from Bengaluru.
The exercises that are part of a 7-minute workout should be chosen in such a way that they target the major muscle groups in the body and promote strength development in each. Care should be taken to ensure certain muscle groups are not overworked or underworked. The exercises should be safe and appropriate for the person who is doing them. It should allow modification to either increase or decrease the intensity and accommodate minimal rest time.
“The exercises are based on the basic types of [functional] movements a human body does: push, pull, squat, crunch, lunge, jump and rotation. Majorly, compound movements are chosen that involve multiple joints as they target more muscles easily,” adds Kumar.
The exercises chosen should be based on the person’s goals and the time frame available to reach those goals.
Structuring the exercises
The type of exercises chosen and the order in which they are done is important to make them effective.
“The exercises are such that they provide a full body workout that covers major muscle groups from head to toe,” adds Tanuja Panda, a fitness trainer from Bengaluru. “Exercises such as planks, jumping jacks, spot running, etc. are chosen so that cardiovascular health is enhanced. Strength is also increased as various muscle groups are targeted in the body during a 7-minute workout.”
It should be kept in mind that while placing the exercises in order, the opposite muscle groups are worked. For instance, a push-up is followed by a squat where the former targets the upper body muscles while the latter targets the lower body muscles. Similarly, an exercise that increases the heart rate should be followed by an exercise that decreases the heart rate. For example, a plank can follow jumping squats.
In a 7- minute workout you can do around 9-12 exercises.
“Accordingly, you can do an exercise [for a specific number of times] in 20 seconds followed by a 10 second break,” says Panda.
Pros of a 7-minute workout
A major question that arises is on the effectiveness of the 7-minute workout. Experts say it can yield results but it shouldn’t become your daily workout.
“It can be done on days where you are unable to find time for a 45 minute to an hour workout. This way you won’t be missing your sessions and will be able to maintain consistency in your workout routine,” says Panda.
It helps save time and can be done at home, as it doesn’t require the use of much equipment. One can use chairs, benches, and stairs to make it more interesting.
“A 7-minute workout could burn up to 1000 extra calories during the entire day, if done properly. The exercises chosen target more muscles in the body, leading to more calories burnt in the body, directly resulting in weight loss,” adds Kumar.
Cons of a 7-minute workout
Despite the effectiveness of a 7-minute workout, if not planned well, it could result in injuries. While the workout itself is chosen to deal with the time constraint, many people tend to skip warmup and cool down.
“Warmup and cool down exercises are necessary to avoid injuries,” says Panda. “The 7-minute workout is exclusive of warmup and cooldown exercises. Simple arm rotation, hip rotation and stretches should be done as a part of warmup.”
The possibility of muscle loss is another concern. “The risk of injuries is also high due to its fast nature. It can adversely affect the body when one is not very fit. Thus, it is better if someone with at least 6-8 months of training experience performs the routine. A complete beginner shouldn’t be doing this,” suggests Kumar.
While doing a 7-minute workout does have many benefits, the whole circuit should be repeated at least 2-3 times to make it more efficient.
Takeaways
- A 7-minute workout consists of 9-12 exercises. Each exercise is done for 20-30 seconds with a 10 second rest time between each exercise.
- It’s based on the principle of high intensity training and helps burn calories. But it should not be an everyday routine workout and can be done on days when it is difficult to find 45 minutes of time for a full workout.
- Warmup and cool down exercises are important even for a 7-minute workout, otherwise one may get injuries.
- For maximum benefits, the set of exercises can be repeated two-three times.
