Short bursts of everyday activity help us stay healthy

SYDNEY - How do you get maximum health benefits without going to the gym? Short bursts of physical activity, like climbing the stairs or washing the car, could be the key to helping many of us stay healthy, according to an international study released last month.

What the study refers to as High Intensity Incidental Physical Activity mimics the scientifically proven benefits of High Intensity Interval Training by incorporating it into everyday life and tasks.

"There is a lot of research telling us that any type of HIIT, irrespective of its duration and number of repetitions, is one of the most effective ways to rapidly improve fitness and cardiovascular health, and HIIPA works on the same idea," says Emmanuel Stamatakis, one of the study's collaborators from Sydney University.