Want to get the most bang for your buck? In a recent New York Times article, a dozen physiologists were asked what they considered to be the single best exercise. While their responses lacked a desired consensus, some of the experts’ top picks did converge in one general direction: the basics. Calisthenics, resistance training, endurance-exercise training, and interval training require no fancy equipment, just your body and some free time. An old-fashioned calisthenic, the burpee, came highly recommended, as it builds muscles and endurance (don’t tell the trainers!). Another expert suggested the squat as the single best exercise, noting the benefits of resistance training in general: builds muscles and helps with weight control.? And with significant research to back it up, brisk walking was also nominated.? Walking has been shown to build muscles, increase aerobic power, aid weight loss and maintenance, and even improve brain function.
Leading physiologists agreed on one point: it’s hard to imagine people enjoying a burpees- or squats-only program, or enduring them for very long.? And it turns out, the key to reaping the benefits of any “single best exercise” is its duration, as the majority of benefits from exercising are due to the first 30 minutes.
So while you may not be able to tolerate 30 minutes of just burpees, applying these recommended exercises to the H.I.T. method (high intensity interval training) may allow you to reap the same benefits without getting bored.? While H.I.T. is regularly used with cardio exercises (like biking and running), researchers note that there is no reason why it can’t be adapted to almost any sport – “as long as you adequately push yourself.”? (For more on interval training, click here.)
As one physiologist pointed out, “Trying to choose a single best exercise is like trying to condense the entire field.”? So, why choose only one if we don’t have to? Our Workout of the Week is an interval training session combining many of these go-to concepts.? And, lucky for us, there’s not a burpee in sight.
Do 5 rounds of:
Endurance: 5 minute treadmill intervals (Speed between 6.0-8.0)
50 body weight squats
50 crunches
50 push ups