Did you know that working out for 2.5 minutes could increase your caloric burn throughout the day by 200 calories? The truth behind this statements makes quite a statement here. In the 2012 study, five healthy men performed sprint interval training on a stationary bicycle (five 30-second intense intervals with four minutes of easy cycling in between). Although the men were sedentary the rest of the day, they ended up burning 200 more calories during the days they did the short bursts of exercise than on the days they didn’t exercise at all.
I mean, sign me up… !!! On those days that you can’t quite sneak in an hour to workout, two and a half minutes is better than nothing and sounds like a great trade for 200 extra calories burned.
So which additionally exercises besides sprint interval training on a stationary bike are the most effective to execute during those two and a half minutes to really ignite the fire inside?
It is a love-hate relationship, but I am sure you could have guessed that Burpees would make the list! Jumping from standing to squatting to push-up position challenges all your muscles at once giving you a real bang for your two and a half minutes.
Moutain Climbers are another great exercise that increases your heart rate and fire up all of your muscles. This cardio exercise move helps strengthen your legs and core muscles as well.
Some additional exercises that real fire up the muscles and your cardiovascular system are: jumping jacks, high knees, in and outs, jump lunges, jump squats, skater lunges, and box jumps.
What are your favorite exercises that get your heart pumping in a short amount of time?
