Can three minutes of exercise a week help make you fit?

[ColinJ]

It's the high intensity guzzling of McDonalds in 3mins that causes the problem so this is the obvious solution.

Not necessarily!

Someone once accused me of only cycling so I could eat more. I replied that I cycled because I loved cycling and having to eat more to fuel it was a fantastic bonus (I was slim and fit at the time)! She replied that I should stop eating the extra food, then I wouldn't need to do the cycling ...

Having a world full of people who don't eat much but who didn't do much either wouldn't be a healthy world!

PS Not that I'm recommending that people should eat junk food! I try to get at least 90% of my food calories from healthy food.

 

[Edwards80]

Not necessarily!

... ...

Hehe aye. Thoroughly tongue in cheek You only have to look at fashion models for the don't eat/don't exercise warning :S

I eat fairly well . . . but quite a lot, I've gone from 13st 2lb to 11st 11lb since November just from riding the bike. Not sure this "3minute" advice is aimed at weight loss etc. though.

If I do an intense 3 minute ride I will end up at my favourite curry house too, so that won't help

 

[Doseone]

I read this in a hurry over my toast and bovril this morning. Although he didn't get fitter (I've never heard of a non-responder to long term exercise, but there you go) didn't it significantly improve his glucose tolerance? That's got to be worth something.

Also, I've always thought of Michael Mosely as taking a reasonably common sense approach to health and fitness, so I'll watch the program tonight before I say too much more.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Before anybody comes back to me ...

The obvious dangers of this are that:

• Someone who is desperately unfit and/or unhealthy will just jump on a gym bike, bust a gut doing their intervals and have a heart attack!
• Do those few minutes of exercise a few times week and think that they need do nothing else the rest of the time and that they can eat what they like!

I heard him on the radio - he seemed reasonable enough but I was surprised that he only advised people already with a diagnosed condition to consult with their GP first before doing HIT. Don't a lot of strokes and heart attacks happen after doing something that's too strenuous for what the body is accustomed to?

 

[ColinJ]

I heard him on the radio - he seemed reasonable enough but I was surprised that he only advised people already with a diagnosed condition to consult with their GP first before doing HIT. Don't a lot of strokes and heart attacks happen after doing something that's too strenuous for what the body is accustomed to?

I would have thought that it would make sense to have a check-up first, but of course, I didn't do that when I took up cycling here in the Pennines!

I did a 25% climb wearing a heart rate monitor once and saw my pulse rate go up to 197 bpm which was a bit of a shock!

I got chatting to a cyclist in Spain once who turned out to be a cardiac consultant. I asked him about the risk of having a heart attack when cycling and he told me not to worry - from what he'd seen of the efforts I was making in the mountains, I would probably already have had a heart attack if I was going to have one! (I later came to realise that that statement wasn't quite as reassuring as I first took it to be!)

 

[Doseone]

It was a good programme, although I'm not sure there was anything particularly ground breaking in there. I thought one of the most interesting things was how much less fat was in his blood following the big breakfast as a result of having been for a long walk the night before. Also, the HIT protocol made a huge difference to his glucose tolerance.

 

[ColinJ]

I've recorded the programme and will be watching it later this evening. I'll edit this post tomorrow to give you my opinion of it.

 

[summerdays]

It was a good programme, although I'm not sure there was anything particularly ground breaking in there. I thought one of the most interesting things was how much less fat was in his blood following the big breakfast as a result of having been for a long walk the night before. Also, the HIT protocol made a huge difference to his glucose tolerance.

I agree - that was interesting to see that a stroll (that walk didn't look high intensity to me) could make a difference in blood fat levels. And I liked the message that you didn't need to be going to the gym - problem is I'm not sure that the ones who needed to hear that message of trying to fit in a little exercise, would be watching it.

 

[Hacienda71]

It would have been more interesting if he then spent a few weeks doing longer periods of training and then compared and contrasted the results.

 

[Arch]

It would have been more interesting if he then spent a few weeks doing longer periods of training and then compared and contrasted the results.

They'd done that study already (not on him, but a proper sample) - that was where the idea of super responders and non-responders came from. I guess he could have repeated it, but you can only fit so much in an hour.

The other thing I got from it, is that I want to know where that cafe is!

 

[Doseone]

The other thing I got from it, is that I want to know where that cafe is!

That breakfast looked awesome. I had my eye on the black pudding, 2 pieces of it, mmmmmmm.

 

[Arch]

That breakfast looked awesome. I had my eye on the black pudding, 2 pieces of it, mmmmmmm.

Yup. I'd have gone for a fried egg myself, but it was making me hungry looking at it!

I wonder if they'll be very busy today!

Dammit, not had a full English (Scottish) for ages. Want one now!

 

[Doseone]

Yup. I'd have gone for a fried egg myself, but it was making me hungry looking at it!

I wonder if they'll be very busy today!

Dammit, not had a full English (Scottish) for ages. Want one now!

Yeah I'd have gone fried or poached too. That was a mountain of scrambled he had there though. There's something unbeatable about the full works in a "caff" with a big mug of tea. And as long as you go for a walk the evening before, it does you no harm (ish).

 

[ACW]

I watched the horizon program last night and saw that the excersise program was the result of scientific study not just opionion so it would seem a good idea to pay some attention to it rather than just shouting that it is complete bollocks as some posts have stated.

 

[Arch]

I watched the horizon program last night and saw that the excersise program was the result of scientific study not just opionion so it would seem a good idea to pay some attention to it rather than just shouting that it is complete bollocks as some posts have stated.

Ah, come on, this is the internet!