Science Vs - 7 Minute Workout: Fit or Fad?

Episode Date: November 21, 2018

The 7 Minute Workout is all the rage, but can working out for just 7 minutes really do anything? To figure out whether this fitness trend is a load of crock, we speak to exercise scientist Prof. Jeff Coombes. Plus, Wendy gives it a go. Check out the transcript right here: http://bit.ly/32qS7IO Selected references: The original 7 minute workout Jeff’s review paper on short intense workouts and weight lossOther reviews about heart health, diabetes, and fitness in healthy peopleThe study on really, really, really short workouts Credits: This episode was produced by Rose Rimler with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Meryl Horn and Odelia Rubin. Our senior producer is Kaitlyn Sawrey. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music written by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Recording assistance from Jack McDonnell. For this episode we also spoke to Martin Gibala, Chris Jordan, Kathryn Weston, Dan Schmidt, and others. Thank you so much for your help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bumble knows it's hard to start conversations. Hey. No, too basic. Hi there. Still no. What about hello, handsome? Who knew you could give yourself the ick? That's why Bumble is changing how you start conversations.

You can now make the first move or not. With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. What does the AI revolution mean for jobs, for getting things done? Who are the people creating this technology and what do they think? I'm Rana El-Khelyoubi, an AI scientist, entrepreneur, investor, and now host of the new podcast, Pioneers of AI. Think of it as your guide for all things AI, with the most human issues at the center.

Join me every Wednesday for Pioneers of AI. And don't forget to subscribe wherever you tune in. It's season three of The Joy of Why, and I still have a lot of questions. Like, what is this thing we call time? Why does altruism exist? And where is Jan Eleven? I'm here, astrophysicist and co-host,

ready for anything. That's right, I'm bringing in the A-team. So brace yourselves. Get ready to learn. I'm Jan Eleven. I'm Steve Strogatz. And this is... Quantum Magazine's podcast, The Joy of Why.

New episodes drop every other Thursday, starting February 1st. Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman, and this is Science Versus from Gimlet Media, the show that pits facts against fitness. And today, we're going to play a little game called, Is It a Load Of Croc? Is it a load of croc? Croc. All right.

And we're going to be tackling the seven-minute workout to find out if it's a load of croc or not. This workout goes for just seven minutes, and people say it can trim you down, pump up your muscles, boost your energy and even extend your life. When the New York Times wrote about it, this workout went viral. So, is it a load of crock? And my first thought when I heard about this workout was that it sounds like rubbish. I mean, seven minutes is just too short.

I go to the toilet for longer than seven minutes. It sounds like one of those hack your life fads that is too good to be true. But this idea that all you need for a good workout is seven minutes, it's just so tantalising that we had to find out more. And I figured I should try it myself. So Science Versus producer Rose Rimler coached me through it. And she had her work cut out for her.

Ugh. She doesn't sound like you're in the mood to work out. No, I'm not in the mood to work out. I'm in the mood to be a whinger. There's no whinging allowed in the seven-minute workout. There's simply no time. Okay, Rose is going to walk me through the original seven-minute workout. Get your headbands out.

So all you need is the floor, the wall, and a chair. Okay. The first thing you're going to do is jumping jacks. Star jumps, as we call them in Australia. That's crazy, but okay. Star jumps, then wall sits, push-ups, sit-ups. You step up onto a chair. You do squats, tricep dips, planks, running in place with high knees, lunges.

Push up with rotation, then you do side plank. Okay. Are you going to give it your best shot? I am going to give it your best shot? I am going to give it my best shot. Here's the catch. Giving the seven-minute workout your best shot means that you have to go at what's called high intensity. This is no casual jog. You've got to go hard. And there's a handy test with a stamp of approval from the CDC that lets you know if you're going hard enough. Here's Rose again.

So for high intensity, you should not be able to have, like, an easygoing conversation. You should not be able to sing. Okay. Okay, so we need to get to the point where I'm, like, huffing and puffing, not singing Journey. Go. Star jumps.

Okay. Just a lonely girl. All right, so I'm not going fast enough. Living in a lonely world. Okay. Well, could you do star jumps any faster? Okay. You look like the curtain things at a car wash.

Thank you. So while I put myself through this, let's talk to an expert to find out if this seven-minute workout does anything. Hello, Jeff speaking. Hi, Jeff speaking. Hi, Wendy. Jeff Coombs is a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. He's been studying exercise since the 90s and has helped write a few reviews rounding up the research on short, intense workouts, like the seven-minute workout. So my first question for him is about one of the most common reasons that people do any exercise, to lose weight.

And so can it help you lose weight? Unfortunately, the answer is no. That amount of exercise is not going to burn enough calories to make a big difference. Yeah, this weight loss claim is a bit of a crock. Although a few studies have found that some people do see a little bit of weight loss on this kind of workout, exercise, just generally speaking, isn't great for losing weight.

Sorry, weight is more about what you put in than what you put out. Check out our obesity episode for more on that. Okay, so the seven-minute workout isn't great for weight loss. But what about those other promises, that the seven-minute workout can make you fitter and healthier? Well, Geoff says, yes, it actually can. Definitely, the seven-minute workout is going to make you stronger, make your bones better, make your heart function better. Really?

Yes. And if you can enjoy it and you keep doing it, then it's certainly going to be effective. I was really surprised, but there are a bunch of studies that show that short, high-intensity workouts are really good for you. They can improve the health of your heart, lungs, and even your sensitivity to insulin, which can help prevent diabetes. So the science is telling us that short, intense workouts are really good for you. And while it is very tricky to compare different kinds of workouts,

Jeff reckons that you're probably better off working really hard for just seven minutes than doing something easier for 20 minutes, something like walking. Exactly. If you wanted to get the most out of your workout, then a seven-minute workout is going to be better for you. But how is this possible? Like, how can just seven minutes of exercise be so good for you?

Well, scientists have known for a long time that exercise trains your body to be more efficient at doing a bunch of things, like using oxygen, sending blood around the body, and regulating your blood sugar. And scientists used to think that the best way to trigger these changes was to exercise for longer. So the more exercise you do, the more benefit you get. It's only recently that

we discovered that you don't have to work out for that long to get these benefits, as long as you work hard enough at high intensity. Last chance to try Journey. Small town girl living in her lonely world. All right, done. That's a seven-minute workout. How do you feel? Pooped. That's actually quite a good workout.

Okay, but there is a little bit of fad in this seven-minute workout, besides the fact that you're not likely to get shredded. And that is this. There's nothing special about doing this exact routine or working for exactly seven minutes. Studies have looked at different high-intensity workouts for different lengths of time, and all kinds of things work. So, for example, one study found that people doing

several minutes of cycling with these short bursts of pedalling as fast as they could, well they improved about as much as a group that cycled at a more relaxed pace for 45 minutes. A couple of minutes versus 45. Kind of amazing, right? But remember here, the key is to work hard. No singing. Isn't a load of crack? Crack. All right. Well, for the seven minute workout, no, it's not.

Meow. Why is there a cat making an appearance? Well, for the seven-minute workout, no, it's not. Why is there a cat making an appearance? Well, it's not a croc. It's a cat. The opposite of a crocodile is not a cat. Huh. That's science versus the seven-minute workout. This episode was produced by Rose Rimler,

with help from me, Wendy Zuckerman, along with Meryl Horne and Odelia Rubin. Our senior producer is Caitlin Sorey. We're edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music written by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Recording assistance from Jack McDonald.

For this episode, we also spoke to Martin Gabala, Chris Jordan, Catherine Weston, Dan Schmidt, and others. Thank you so much for your help. I'm Wendy Zuckerman. Talk to you next time.