High and low intensity workouts both pay off

Should you work out at a high intensity for a short time or at a lower intensity for a longer period of time for optimal health benefits?

The answer is yes.

A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at 300 obese people and assigned them to short, high intensity workouts or long, low intensity workouts. Participants ate a healthy diet but were not given a specific caloric intake. Overall they found that both groups decreased their waist circumference but the group working out at the higher intensity level was also able to decrease blood glucose levels.

"Higher intensity can be achieved simply by increasing the incline while walking on a treadmill or walking at a brisker pace," said Robert Ross, PhD, lead study author, in a press release. "Participants were surprised by how easy it was for them to attain a high intensity exercise level."

According to Dr. Deepak Mitra, an internal medicine physician at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Ill says that any exercise really is good exercise.

"I encourage my patients to pick an exercise routine that they enjoy so they will stick with it," he says. "This study shows that the combination of a healthy diet with different types of exercise resulted in not only weight loss but also loss of high-risk fat around the midsection."