Article 22: It's all about the thrill

It's all about the thrill!

You might say, "I'm not that lazy, and I have time to exercise, but I still want to learn some exercise planning techniques." I offer two options: one is low-intensity, high-volume exercise, suitable for those with strong willpower, good physical fitness, and limited free time; the other is social exercise, suitable for those with relatively weak self-control, easily distracted, and with many social activities. The former will teach you how to exercise to achieve maximum results in the shortest amount of time; the latter will teach you how to increase the enjoyment of exercise, making it easier to develop a long-term exercise habit. If you can combine these two types of exercise with the supplementary exercises mentioned in the previous section, the weight loss effect will be even better.

These methods also follow the principle of relative satisfaction, meaning they are the easiest to learn and the easiest to continue, but not the optimal principle. Many exercises sound very effective, but are actually very difficult to do.

When it comes to exercise for weight loss, most people immediately think of strenuous activities like running and swimming. These are generally moderate-to-high intensity exercises with a large amount of activity per session. A common misconception is that the more intense the exercise, the better. However, after completing high-intensity exercise, we usually feel very tired, perhaps with aches and pains all over our bodies, and won't exercise for several days afterward. Or we might feel extremely hungry, have a huge appetite, and overeat, which is counterproductive and leads to a yo-yo-like weight loss cycle.

Here's a new type of exercise-low-volume, high-intensity exercise. Low-volume refers to a relatively low amount of exercise per session, while high-intensity refers to a relatively high intensity of exercise. A crucial principle is to exert yourself to the utmost for a very short period, such as a few minutes at a time, the faster your heart beats and the more you breathe, the better. This allows you to push your cardiopulmonary function to its limit.

Why arrange it this way? First, this method is very simple and requires very few conditions. You don't need to go out, go to the gym, or even change clothes. Just turn on your phone, find a video tutorial you want to do, and you can start immediately without professional guidance. Second, it's short and highly feasible. Unlike high-intensity, high-volume exercises, these exercises don't require advance planning; 5-10 minutes is enough, and if you're really short on time, 3-5 minutes will also work. Third, it's effective. Due to its high intensity, it's very effective for fat loss, improving cardiovascular function, and accelerating metabolism. Fourth, because the exercise duration is short, it generally doesn't cause hunger, so the risk of overeating afterward is much lower.

The Department of Human Engineering at McMaster University in Canada is renowned for its research in this field. They had experimental subjects perform low-intensity, high-impact exercise-only six times over two weeks, totaling just 15 minutes. The results showed that these individuals experienced a 15% to 35% increase in muscle oxygen consumption and a significant improvement in the metabolism of glycogen and fat. They also found that just two weeks of low-intensity, high-impact exercise could significantly improve insulin sensitivity in obese individuals, thereby improving diabetes symptoms and even reducing the risk of heart disease. (Gibala & McGee, 2008; Gibala, Little, MacDonald & Hawley, 2012) You might be surprised; yes, these findings are cutting-edge and revolutionary. The medical community has long advocated spending a lot of time doing high-intensity exercise, such as running or cycling for at least 3 hours a week. However, simple and easy low-volume, high-intensity exercise can achieve the same effect.

Therefore, the amount of exercise in a single session is not the most important factor; rather, the intensity of the exercise is likely more important. Especially when we can't find the time to exercise in our daily lives, we can consider shortening the exercise time but increasing the intensity. As for the frequency of exercise, generally speaking, 3 to 5 times a week is sufficient (of course, once a day would be even better), with each session lasting 5 to 10 minutes. Low-volume, high-intensity exercise can achieve excellent results for the body, especially for metabolism. As mentioned before, we use about 65% of our daily energy for metabolism. Imagine if low-volume, high-intensity exercise could increase your muscle oxygen consumption by 30% (as shown in the research results mentioned above), which means that we are burning calories more effectively while working, resting, and playing, thereby achieving the goal of weight loss. For someone who is usually too lazy to exercise and doesn't have time to work out, what reason is there not to give it a try?

What specific types of exercise are available? Generally, these utilize your own body weight and can be done indoors or outdoors. Examples include bodyweight exercises like running, jumping, standing, sitting, and squatting in place; or exercises using simple equipment such as jump ropes, dumbbells, exercise bikes, and climbing stairs. Remember the most important principle: exert yourself to the maximum amount of exercise in a short period of time; the faster your heart rate and the more breathless you become, the better. There are many videos online that you can follow. Each session usually lasts 5-10 minutes, and completing one video is sufficient. I recommend searching for "high-intensity interval training" (HIT). You can find videos on various websites; you don't need to spend money to learn it. Of course, we just want to use this method to increase our exercise volume. Fitness and weight loss are two different topics. If you want to get fit and perform the exercises professionally, I would suggest that you find a professional fitness coach to learn from.

Another method can help you remind yourself to develop this habit. The theoretical basis for this method is the principle of operant conditioning: if we get a good result after performing a certain behavior, we will be more willing to continue doing it. If the behavior we want to reinforce is low-intensity, high-volume exercise, then we need to ask ourselves: what can we use to reward or motivate ourselves to complete 3-5 times a week of low-intensity, high-volume exercise? It's simple: do things you enjoy. For example, in the evening, we might really want to watch a TV series or play a game. Then we can set a rule for ourselves: watching TV or playing games is fine, but we must first complete a set of 5-10 minutes of high-intensity intermittent training. Since most training videos can be found online, we can even set a rule for ourselves: do a set of high-intensity exercises following the video before watching the show.

Homework

1. In the coming week, please set aside time to do 5 to 10 minutes of low-intensity exercise each day for 3 to 5 days.

2. You can consider integrating low-intensity, high-volume exercise into your daily routine. For example, before watching TV or playing games, do a 5-10 minute high-intensity intermittent workout.