You can lose weight by doing this exercise for one minute. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well it's true and good news for you. Now you're probably wondering, what's the exercise? Tell us already! According to a new University of Utah study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, just one minute of high intensity exercise has the potential to drop a half pound on the average height woman (5'4"). A half pound may not sound like a lot, and in fact, it's really not...but we're talking about one minute of effort every week.

What's Considered High Intensity Exercise?

High intensity exercise is simply any exercise that creates an exertion level you wouldn't be able to manage for very long. It's a sprint, a blast and period of time when your heart rate accelerates and you feel breathless. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being easy, your effort level is between an 8.5 and a 10. You push yourself, but for only a short period of time. That's it.

The information from the University of Utah really doesn't reveal anything that most fitness professionals don't already know, but it's always incredible to see just how much of a difference a little bit of hard work makes. For the record, both long and short bouts of high intensity exercise yielded the same drop in body mass index.  The nuts of bolts of this study were vast, including over 4500 men and women between the ages of 18 - 64 who from 2003 - 2006.

If you want to start integrating high intensity exercise in your workout regime, and you're in good health - go for it! Take a look at this sample workout.

• Warm up for 5 to 15 minutes
• 1-minute sprint
• 1 minute easy
• 90-second sprint
• 1 minute easy
• 2-minute sprint
• 2 minutes easy
• 90-second sprint
• 2 minutes easy
• 1-minute sprint

You're done! Five strong intervals, that's it.

What can you do for a sprint? Just about anything: running, cycling, spinning, riding the elliptical machine or the stair climber...whatever works for you. I'm using the word "sprint" so that the idea of pushing harder and faster is understood. The important thing to remember is the sprints need to be hard effort. If you're not breathing heavy and feeling relatively exhausted by the end of the workout, you might not have worked hard enough.

Do this regularly, along with strength training, yoga or any other type of fitness you enjoy and you'll see some shifts. Of course, watch your diet. If you overcompensate with food intake, despite all the hard effort you're putting in on the fitness end, the results won't be as great.

What are the other benefits of high intensity interval training? Read them here. 

Looking for another workout? Try this one!