Exercising for half an hour daily could help you lose as much as 25 per cent more weight than an hour long workout, it was revealed today.

Tests have shown that cutting an exercise regime in half holds great benefits for people who are overweight, increasing their chances of shedding the pounds.

The shorter exercise sessions left slimmers happier, with more energy and motivation for pursuing a healthy lifestyle, while those who spent twice as long in the gym were more likely to feel burned out, researchers at the University of Copenhagen found.

Exercising for half an hour daily could help you lose as much as 25 per cent more weight than an hour long workout, it was revealed today

Professor Bente Stallknecht, of the university's Department of Biomedical Sciences, said: ‘Obesity is a complex social problem requiring a multidisciplinary approach.

‘We combined data from biomedical studies of the subjects' bodies with ethnological data on their experiences during the 13-week trial period.

‘This enabled us to explain the background for the surprising fact that 30 minutes of daily exercise is just as beneficial as a full hour of hard fitness training.

‘The “lightweight” group of exercisers appear to get more energy and be more motivated in relation to pursuing a healthy lifestyle.’


At the end of a 13-week trial undertaken by 60 overweight men, those who exercised for a shorter period lost around a kilo more on average than the slimmers who spent an hour in the gym at a time, who shed 2.7kg over the period.

Associate professor Astrid Jespersen said her team was ‘surprised’ by the study which combined medical observations with interviews.

She explained: ‘The qualitative data offers a possible explanation for the surprising biological data.

‘The subjects in the test group that exercised the least talk about increased energy levels and a higher motivation for exercising and pursuing a healthy everyday life. They take the stairs, take the dog for an extra walk or cycle to work.

Shorter exercise sessions leave slimmers happier, with more energy and motivation for pursuing a healthy lifestyle, while spending longer in the gym is more likely to make them feel burned out

‘In contrast, the men who exercised for one hour a day, after training, felt exhausted, demotivated and less open to making a healthy change. We are thus seeing that a moderate amount of exercise will significantly impact the subjects' daily practices.’

The scientists say tackling obesity requires an approach that doesn't solely focus on exercise sessions and diet.

Professor Jesperson added: ‘When addressing a complex problem such as obesity, several disciplines must be employed, and the research must be viewed from a holistic perspective.

‘Decades of health campaigns have proven insufficiently effective because we have been unable to incorporate the significance of, e.g., psychology, culture and social structures.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...l#ixzz2fTx6x1fw

Ha ha ha!

So much for "burning it off."

They don't mention if there was a control group that exercised not at all. More wasn't better. Wasany?

What is up with men-only studies? Not that I would go look for the study! just a thought.

Aha, the biggest losers are the laziest!

I can't recall the source where I read about some study that found school aged kids who did more formal exercise (maybe it was P.E. class?) unconsciously moved less the rest of the day to make up for it so that their level of activity ended up the same as ones who formally exercised less but then would spontaneously do more activity on their own like after school. Does this study sound familiar to anyone else who knows where it's from? The take-home message seemed to be that people without realizing it adjust the rest of their daily activity expenditure to compensate for whether they've done vigorous exercise or not. I also recall a book I read years ago about overcoming exercise addictions where one of the authors described how when he was hooked on too much heavy exercise he'd loaf around the house a lot a lot but when he realized he had a problem and cut back he found he had the energy to do chores around the house, carry in the bags of groceries, etc.

Hard work pays off over time. Laziness pays off immediately!

All I heard was 'less exercise equals happiness.'

The Primal approach is to keep to a steady, low, pace, punched up with periodic all out sprints and full body activity.

If I had a fully working hip, I'd be far more active than I am. But I can do a full morning hike, haul stuff up and down our stairs. Living on the third floor has its advantages.

Basically a high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine. I wish I had a body that would allow me to do this as well; tried once, and my ankle hurt for a day afterwards. I'd personally like to do short weight training sessions with a trainer (yeah, I'm totally inept at this on my own), but my household is below the poverty line and definitely can't afford me spending money on that (especially when I lose weight just fine without it).

I'm more curious to see if a group without exercise but on a low carb diet would lose more. I would hypothesize that it would be a "yes".

Our park district has a weight training facility that's free, and has trainers there for advice. Might your area have something like that? Even if the trainer couldn't do the full-on, personal program, be-with-you-every-second, you could have the benefit of company and someone to bounce ideas off of.

I saw this cool info graphic just yesterday on the basics of weight training that one could do at home.