A fitness infographic from Monster Supplements – I actually created this when I was working for a marketing agency and doing a campaign for them.

4 minutes of Exercise can Produce Significant Benefits

I’d also like to add – for those put off exercise due to time, that you don’t need a lot of time to gain significant benefits from exercise.

In fact, research has shown that doing 2, 4-minute bouts of high-intensity exercise per week, can benefit markers of health, such as blood glucose levels.

In fact, the 4-minute bouts of interval training, include a total of one minute’s rest!

For example:
On an exercise bike
You would complete one 20 second sprint, then rest for 10 seconds,
then do another sprint for 20 seconds, rest for 10.
Repeat until the 4 minutes is complete.

This is known as a Tabata interval.

You don’t even need an exercise bike, you can do them with bodyweight squats.
You can try press ups, but they are extremely difficult to do for the full 4 minutes!

More information on these ‘Tabata intervals’ can be found on the BBC website here.

You can download an app, or use a Tabata timer on youtube to complete the intervals.

One Set Training – Takes One Minute or Less Per Bodypart

In addition, a lot of research shows that one set of resistance exercise is as beneficial as doing 3. So even if you can only do one set of press ups and one set of squats, every other evening, that’s enough to gain or at least maintain muscle mass.

More information on one set training can be found here.

Some ideas for working out at home can be found here.