BBC amazing exercise revelation 4min * 3 days a week

ROS123

Did anyone see the BBC 'One Show' yesterday 10 Jan. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xlw3z/The_One_Show_10_01_2011/ They showed an experiment of how doing a 4 mins routine of intensive exercise 3 days a week, was as good as 40 mins, 3 days a week. The research was done at the University of the West of Scotland. I cant play the BBC iPlayer but was wondering had anyone seen it and do you have any comments.

The routine consisted of 30 second fast sprint with 30 second rest period, repeat by 4. In total 2 mins of exercise over 4 mins 3 days a week.

They did a 5 week experiment for the show, the gut lost more weight was more fit than the girl who did the 40 min routine.

Too good to be true ?

cc87

Im sure many people who post on here can come up with a 4 minute workout that would be far more effective than so many 40 minute workouts.

There are so many variables that effect weight loss and exercise is just one of them.

Hanley

ROS123 wrote: »

Did anyone see the BBC 'One Show' yesterday 10 Jan. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xlw3z/The_One_Show_10_01_2011/ They showed an experiment of how doing a 4 mins routine of intensive exercise 3 days a week, was as good as 40 mins, 3 days a week. The research was done at the University of the West of Scotland. I cant play the BBC iPlayer but was wondering had anyone seen it and do you have any comments.

The routine consisted of 30 second fast sprint with 30 second rest period, repeat by 4. In total 2 mins of exercise over 4 mins 3 days a week.

They did a 5 week experiment for the show, the gut lost more weight was more fit than the girl who did the 40 min routine.

Too good to be true ?

Sounds like someone b@stardized the Tabata study, changed the intervals and put their name to it.

discus

I think this proves that there is not just retards out there making up ****, there's also retards in the media lapping it up.

ROS123

Pardon me for asking the question, I should have done more research. With the mention of Tabata study it alllowed me to find some information, without the sarcastic contributions. Thanks anyway....

discus

ROS123 wrote: »

Pardon me for asking the question, I should have done more research. With the mention of Tabata study it alllowed me to find some information, without the sarcastic contributions. Thanks anyway....

Incase you thought I was referring to you as a retard, I was referring to the publishers.

SanoVitae

ROS123 wrote: »

Pardon me for asking the question, I should have done more research. With the mention of Tabata study it alllowed me to find some information, without the sarcastic contributions. Thanks anyway....

Yours was a perfectly good question. I think discus was having a good at the researchers on The One Show and not you personally.

ROS123

discus wrote: »

Incase you thought I was referring to you as a retard, I was referring to the publishers.

discuss, I did realise you were referring to BBC for repackaging an already proven methodology. This is obviously a serious forum for serious fitness people, I wan't aware of Tabata and found it incredulous that 4 mins 3 times a weeks could have an effect. Having read a few articles on same, I am learning a little more. I did think the responses were a little bit cynical, but hey I probably over reacted. I did get a lead to find more relevant info, thanks for that.

Scuba Ste

What exactly did the 40 minute routine consist of?

I'm guessing it wasn't 40 mins of 30s on/off intervals.

ROS123

Scuba Ste wrote: »

What exactly did the 40 minute routine consist of?

I'm guessing it wasn't 40 mins of 30s on/off intervals.

40 mins of medium speed running, both people worked in a Gym and were not unfit. I know 40 mins of medium speed means nothing specific, but it appeared to be me to be 6 - 8 miles no stoping.

cc87

No ones having a go at you for asking your question OP.
The problem is that there are so many effective methods of losing weight/getting stronger/fitter etc out there yet it seems its only the poor ones that gain publicity.

Bit more info here
http://www.topnews.in/health/30-second-bursts-exercise-may-help-fight-childhood-obesity-210198

All that study really did was reaffirm the idea that interval training is good for weight loss when compared with more moderate activity.

Red Cortina

they control for diet in anyway during the study?

ROS123

Red Cortina wrote: »

they control for diet in anyway during the study?

Sorry guys I dont have all the information, I know they tested both beforehand, weight and fitness and the fat thing where the measure the amount of fat with a calipers. In all three the interval traing person improved more. I know what you are asking, the guy may have changed his diet, he may have done more exercising than he claimed but hey, I'm naive, I was intrigued by it, not believing that 2 out of 4 mins may possibly be so effective and better than 10 times the amount of running. I do take the first reponse that 4 mins of ontense would certainly be better than 40 mins of phaffing around. I dont think that that was the case though, I think she put in the effort as well, she lost almost a stone in the 5 weeks.

Having said all of that if it is as good as all that, wouldn't everyone know about it.

cc87

ROS123 wrote: »

Having said all of that if it is as good as all that, wouldn't everyone know about it.

Many people do know about it.
Intervals are not fun.

Not fun at all.

jeff lebowski

Tabata's FTW

ROS123

that I have been reading about... I didn't get to read the article about the potential for using it in schools yet.

Hanley

Is it just me, or do people overreact when they don't get a pat on the bum in response to their questions on here? No one said anything in any way offensive towards the OP and he has a go?! WTF?!

steve9859

I saw that on The One Show last night. But there are so many caveats that they didnt mention. The biggest is that both of them were pretty fit to start with! So they had a base on which to build some intensity in their training. Just going for a 40 minute jog like she did isnt going to make her any fitter - she looked like she probably did that every day anyway.

If someone who was overweight and generally unfit tried to do the 4 minutes of sprinting intervals 3 times a week, not only would they not lose weight, they would probably have a coronary! Thought it was a bit reckless of the programme to suggest that it was appropriate weight loss exercise for an unfit person! If I was in a fat family and someone got ill doing it, I would sue the BBCs ass off!!

40 minutes of faffing around is better if you are not used to exercise and want to lose weight! Interval training will build on your fitness more if you are already half fit

Hanley

steve9859 wrote: »

I saw that on The One Show last night. But there are so many caveats that they didnt mention. The biggest is that both of them were pretty fit to start with! So they had a base on which to build some intensity in their training. Just going for a 40 minute jog like she did isnt going to make her any fitter - she looked like she probably did that every day anyway.

If someone who was overweight and generally unfit tried to do the 4 minutes of sprinting intervals 3 times a week, not only would they not lose weight, they would probably have a coronary! Thought it was a bit reckless of the programme to suggest that it was appropriate weight loss exercise for an unfit person! If I was in a fat family and someone got ill doing it, I would sue the BBCs ass off!!

40 minutes of faffing around is better if you are not used to exercise and want to lose weight! Interval training will build on your fitness more if you are already half fit

Fact. Great post.

d'Oracle

Is it January always this horrible or am I just noticing it more now.

Everywhere I look its ads for gyms, get fit quick and "Look how fat this person is" on the telly.

SpookyBastard

d'Oracle wrote: »

Is it January always this horrible or am I just noticing it more now.

Everywhere I look its ads for gyms, get fit quick and "Look how fat this person is" on the telly.

Yeah. Apparently, we're all broken but January is the month to start fixing ourselves!! Aren't we lucky there are so many nice people out there to offer us help and magic potions!

Parsley

d'Oracle wrote: »

Is it January always this horrible or am I just noticing it more now.

Everywhere I look its ads for gyms, get fit quick and "Look how fat this person is" on the telly.

on the upside there's a good few women coming in to the free weights area in my gym. highly unusual.

smallgarden

they did say if unfit to not do it,to start of gradual and to consult doctor.id say theres some logic to it.

Lantus

The magic pill and 4 minute exercise routine is always going to get headlines. It's the magic of media and the diet industry panders to it to make money. An unhealthy amount of all the money spent in the diet industry is on gimic equipment, unnecessary pills and supplements, fad diet books and weight watchers meetings. Until we sort out these problems there will armies of people who are overloaded with media hype and led down 1 of 1000 of the many garden paths open to them to fail and then hopefully rebuy somewhere else.

ROS123

Lantus wrote: »

The magic pill and 4 minute exercise routine is always going to get headlines. It's the magic of media and the diet industry panders to it to make money. An unhealthy amount of all the money spent in the diet industry is on gimic equipment, unnecessary pills and supplements, fad diet books and weight watchers meetings. Until we sort out these problems there will armies of people who are overloaded with media hype and led down 1 of 1000 of the many garden paths open to them to fail and then hopefully rebuy somewhere else.

In fairness to this one there are no costs associated (with exception of coronary)

Maars

3 tabata's a week for the rest of your life...that'd take some balls

Hanley

Maars wrote: »

3 tabata's a week for the rest of your life...that'd take some balls

Be utterly pointless too since the improvements in the Tabata study (and most other HIIT ones as far as I know) start to tail off around 4-6 weeks.

Brian?

Hanley wrote: »

Be utterly pointless too since the improvements in the Tabata study (and most other HIIT ones as far as I know) start to tail off around 4-6 weeks.

As a matter of interest, what do you think are the best excercises for doing tabata training? Apart from sprints, I was thinking front squats or thrusters.

Hanley

briankeating wrote: »

As a matter of interest, what do you think are the best excercises for doing tabata training? Apart from sprints, I was thinking front squats or thrusters.

The one they used in the study... a bike.

Failing that, probably a C2 erg.

Maars

Hanley wrote: »

Be utterly pointless too since the improvements in the Tabata study (and most other HIIT ones as far as I know) start to tail off around 4-6 weeks.

Aye, balls not brains.

Barry.Oglesby

Tabata- will it ever die?

Brian?

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Tabata- will it ever die?

You're anti tabata?

Hanley

briankeating wrote: »

You're anti tabata?

I think he’s more anti-what people THINK is Tabata.

Tabata’s not just 20 on/10 off x8. There’s very specific protocols to be followed but since no one’s really read the study and are only aware of it thru 3rd hand information, they don’t get the nuances of it, which are also the things that make it so good…

Barry.Oglesby

briankeating wrote: »

You're anti tabata?

Define tabata and I'll tell you.

Brian?

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Define tabata and I'll tell you.

I can't. All I know is what the google machine tells me. I didn't realise until today that there was any ambiguity about what is/isn't tabata.

The only reason I asked anything about it was that it sounded a bit interesting.

If it's balls, I'd be interested to know why.

Brian?

Hanley wrote: »

I think he’s more anti-what people THINK is Tabata.

Tabata’s not just 20 on/10 off x8. There’s very specific protocols to be followed but since no one’s really read the study and are only aware of it thru 3rd hand information, they don’t get the nuances of it, which are also the things that make it so good…

Fair enough.

Nuances you say.

Barry.Oglesby

briankeating wrote: »

I can't. All I know is what the google machine tells me. I didn't realise until today that there was any ambiguity about what is/isn't tabata.

The only reason I asked anything about it was that it sounded a bit interesting.

If it's balls, I'd be interested to know why.

I've done this before and I'm supposed to be doing something else important so I'll truncate this.

1- The original study was on cyclists... you know, those guys with the awesome aerobic capacity
2- Their gains were short term
3- Most people lack the aerobic capacity to get any benefit and would probably be better off walking for the same time period.
4- It's increase on the metabolic rate (the reason most people think they're using it) will be practically zero
5- It's yet another example of the bastardisation of real science

Brian?

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

I've done this before and I'm supposed to be doing something else important so I'll truncate this.

1- The original study was on cyclists... you know, those guys with the awesome aerobic capacity
2- Their gains were short term
3- Most people lack the aerobic capacity to get any benefit and would probably be better off walking for the same time period.
4- It's increase on the metabolic rate (the reason most people think they're using it) will be practically zero
5- It's yet another example of the bastardisation of real science

Cheers, truncation was the way to go. So it basically boosts the VO2 max of superfit people for a bit, but you need to be superfit already to get the benefit. I however am not superfit, so I will never mention it again and just bite the bullet, buy some new runners and oil my chain.

Feckin cyclists. Even when it was the bears, I knew it was the cyclists.

hardCopy

Hanley wrote: »

I think he’s more anti-what people THINK is Tabata.

Tabata’s not just 20 on/10 off x8. There’s very specific protocols to be followed but since no one’s really read the study and are only aware of it thru 3rd hand information, they don’t get the nuances of it, which are also the things that make it so good…

So is there any benefit to moderately fit person in doing 20 on/10 off x8 vs 30 minutes on a treadmill?

(Yes I have only heard of it through 3rd hand sources, mostly wikipedia)

Hanley

hardCopy wrote: »

So is there any benefit to moderately fit person in doing 20 on/10 off x8 vs 30 minutes on a treadmill?

(Yes I have only heard of it through 3rd hand sources, mostly wikipedia)

Well… yeah. Interval training works!! Espcially if you’re relatively fit aerobically but haven’t done much anaerobic stuff.

If you’re going to do it on a treadmill tho, you’d need to lengthen the intervals because it’ll take time to speed up/slow down.

It won’t be “Tabata” but it’ll still work. It won’t work forever, but nothing does.

hardCopy

Hanley wrote: »

Well… yeah. Interval training works!! Espcially if you’re relatively fit aerobically but haven’t done much anaerobic stuff.

If you’re going to do it on a treadmill tho, you’d need to lengthen the intervals because it’ll take time to speed up/slow down.

It won’t be “Tabata” but it’ll still work. It won’t work forever, but nothing does.

Thanks, I had gotten good results a couple of years ago doing 2 mins on, 1 min off for 20 mins on the treadmill but this show and subsequent googling was the first I had seen of such short intervals and short total time.

My gym time is limited at the minute so may try 20 sec on/10 sec off x8 on the erg for a couple of months and see how I get on.

Hanley

hardCopy wrote: »

Thanks, I had gotten good results a couple of years ago doing 2 mins on, 1 min off for 20 mins on the treadmill but this show and subsequent googling was the first I had seen of such short intervals and short total time.

My gym time is limited at the minute so may try 20 sec on/10 sec off x8 on the erg for a couple of months and see how I get on.

The main thing with the Tabata Study was that athletes were working in a very specific wattage range. I think it was 400-500 off the top of my head. If they were able to sustain greater than that for the 20 second intervals then the resistance was increased or somehing to that effect.

Basically what I'm saying is try to see some progression. Something like total distance travelled over the 4 minutes maybe.