Health

The Scientifically Proven 7-Minute Workout

A workout that burns fat, requires little equipment, and takes less than ten minutes? Sounds too good to be true.

High-intensity interval training has been proven to burn fat quickly in a short amount of time. Photographs courtesy of the American College of Sports Medicine's Health and Fitness Journal.

A workout recently published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Journal isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but we busy Washingtonians may appreciate that it takes just seven minutes, requires barely any equipment, and works the entire body. Now there really are no excuses.

Using high-intensity circuit training, the workout is designed for ultimate fat-burning while performing 12 exercises for 30 seconds each. The fitness trainers who created the workout note that it’s not the best way to gain “absolute” strength, power, or endurance—but if you’re crunched for time, it will serve you well.

But enough of the explanations—we’ll let the workout do the talking for the next seven minutes.

The Seven-Minute High-Intensity Circuit Training Workout

Perform the following exercises for 30 seconds each, with 10 seconds of rest in between. Aim to perform 15 to 20 reps of each exercise within the 30-second span for a total of about seven minutes. Repeat entire circuit two or three more times if needed.

1) Jumping jacks

2) Wall sit

3) Pushup

4) Abdominal crunch

5) Step-up onto chair

6) Squat

7) Tricep dip on chair

8) Plank

9) High knees/running in place

10) Lunge

11) Pushup and rotation

12) Side plank