Gone are the days of spending hours in the gym and more hours trying to cure physical fatigue. Scientists understand the busy lifestyle we live these days needs an exercise regime that will allow people to quickly move on to the next thing. That is why they came up with the 7-minute workout.

All you need for this workout is a wall, a chair and seven minutes of your time. With just those things, you will still fulfil the mandates for high-intensity effort which essentially combines doing a long run and session of weight-training. The 12 exercises are very prescriptive in terms of what you should do, the order in which you should do it, and for how long.

Even a 7-minute workout requires intervals; the extremely intense activity must be intermingled with brief periods of recovery. In the programme, this recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest between exercises. But even more, it’s accomplished by alternating an exercise that emphasises the large muscles in the upper body with those in the lower body. During the interval the unexercised muscles have a moment to, metaphorically speaking, catch their breath, which makes the order of the exercises important.

The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30-seconds for each. The intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10 throughout the programme. It will be the most unpleasant seven minutes of your day. However, the upside is you will be done after only seven minutes.

When you do these workouts that require both strength and endurance at the same time, there is a lot more adaptation going on. Your body is trying to adapt to strength demands which require more muscles, more bone density and joint strength. So these high intensity workouts burn more calories than usual, often for more than two days afterward. Understanding of proper form and technique is a key in this workout, and so is the understanding of what you’re getting yourself into. Proper execution requires a willing and able participant who can handle a great deal of discomfort for a relatively short duration.

These types of workouts have all been shown to have long-lasting benefits despite their short durations. Research suggests that short, intense exercise can boost metabolism, fight weight gain and even add years to your life.

You will definitely need a good massage after trying out the 7-minute workout regime.