Fitness 'takes 6 minutes a week'

from CNN Health, LONDON, England -- 'Six minutes of pure, hard exercise a week could be just as effective as an hour of daily moderate activity, according to a new study.

"Short bouts of very intense exercise improved muscle health and performance comparable to several weeks of traditional endurance training," said Martin Gibala, an associate professor at Canada's McMaster University.

The research, published in the June edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, says that repeatedly doing very intense exercise such as sprinting resulted in unique changes in skeletal muscle and endurance capacity, similar to training that requires hours of exercise each week.'

Boy, do I love these kinds of studies! For the time-squeezed and exhausted city rat, this may be the best news revealed ever... The 1/2 hr gym quickie routine may not be so bad after all!