Can you increase your endurance through quick interval training as opposed to countless hours of exercise? A new study published in the June 24th edition of the NYTimes entitled, "Can I Get Fit in Six Minutes" suggests that sprint training can increase endurance with only a few minutes of exercise.

The study outlined in the article, conducted by Martin Gibala, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, compared two sets of healthy students who were not athletes. The first set of students rode a stationary bike at a sustainable pace for 90 to 120 minutes. The second group focused on sprint interval training, riding for 20 to 30 seconds at peak intensity, then resting for four minutes. They repeated this cycle four times.

Gibala’s research found that after two weeks both groups showed nearly identical increases in their endurance, despite the fact that the sprint group had exercised only six to nine minutes per week and the distance group had exercised for about five hours. The sprint workouts had a surprising effect on the number and size of mitochondria within the muscles and since mitochondria enable muscle cells to use oxygen to create energy, it resulted in a big impact on endurance performance.

For the countless health enthusiasts who are stretched for times and can no longer afford to spend hours in a gym, this comes as surprisingly good news. More results from Gibala’s lab should be available this fall, as the group seeks to determine whether a single, two to three minute bout of intense exercise could results in the same benefits as the six minute interval training.