Here's How Just 1 Minute of Exercise Can Make a Difference

What if you could get fit and healthy from just one minute of working out a day? Sorry, that's probably not possible, but according to a study from researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, it's not that far from reality, the New York Times reported.

The study found that "one minute of arduous exercise was comparable in its physiological effects to 45 minutes of gentler sweating," reports the Times — but that doesn't quite mean that we should all cut down our workouts to one minute.

Researchers tracked the results of different kinds of exercise on a group of 27 "sedentary men" and found that those who exercised for 10 minutes, where one of the minutes was "intense," showed the same health benefits as those who did more traditional, 50 minutes continuous sessions.

So the study doesn't exactly show that one-minute workouts are miraculously better than longer workouts, but it does show that the key to maximizing health benefits may lie in exercising smarter — not longer.