While a cup of coffee can start your morning with a bang, there’s an easy, two-minute activity that will jumpstart your metabolism and give you more energy throughout the day. Uber investor Sahil Bloom developed the 5-5-5-30 morning exercise routine that takes only two minutes and has been scientifically shown to improve your attention, concentration, and learning and memory functions for the next two hours. You can do it while your coffee is brewing! And experts say that even two minutes of vigorous activity daily can boost your health as well.
According to Inc.com, Bloom’s two-minute, full-body workout doesn’t put significant stress on any one body part. Here’s the breakdown:
• 5 pushups
• 5 squats
• 5 lunges
• and hold a 30-second plank
These five exercises can improve mental health and cognitive function, according to a meta-analysis published in Transitional Sports Medicine, that found only two minutes of effort yields two hours of focus and productivity.
In order to reap the rewards of this two-minute program, make it a daily habit, say experts. Forming new habits can enhance your fitness in 2023, and Bloom’s 5-5-5-30 plan is just a suggestion. You can personalize the plan to include jumping jacks, walking up and down stairs or doing kettlebell swings for two minutes. Just choose exercises that involve the whole body.
Make sure that you do your two minutes first thing in the morning. One way to ensure success is to stack your habits, says Inc.com. For example, if you brush your teeth first thing upon rising, brush your teeth AFTER you exercise. If you are the kind of person who can’t stand the thought of doing anything before you’ve had that first cup of coffee, that’s the perfect habit to link with a two-minute workout. Make it a rule that you’ll always do the 5-5-5-30 workout before you take the first sip.
You’ll have a double dose of energy from your workout and the cup of java to start your day. Not only will you feel better, you’ll be lowering your risk of developing several long-term conditions, such as cancer and heart disease, according to research published in the European Heart Journal.
Two-minute bursts of vigorous physical activity — totaling 15 minutes a week — are associated with a reduced risk of early death. The researchers defined vigorous activity as an increase in heart rate where people will often need to pause for breath when speaking, according to Medical News Today. Examples of vigorous physical activity include sprints, high intensity interval training (HIIT), swimming, or cycling at fast speed.
For the study, 71,893 men and women with no evidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer were selected from the U.K. Biobank study, a prospective cohort of people between ages 40 and 69. The participants who did no physical activity had a 4% risk of dying within five years. This risk was slashed in half with less than 10 minutes of daily vigorous physical activity and was halved again to a 1% risk if people did 60 minutes or more daily, says Medical News Today.
“This may be particularly important for people who do not have the time or do not wish to go to a gym or engage in ‘traditional exercise’,” said lead author Matthew Ahmadi, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney in Australia. “We found as little as 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week can lower all-cause mortality and cancer risk by 15%, and 20 minutes per week can lower heart disease risk by 40%, with additional health benefits up to approximately 50 to 60 minutes per week.”