Get fit fast – new study reveals 15 minutes of daily exercise can improve your fitness

Many of us don’t have time these days to spend hours in the gym, it’s why we publish lots of shorter workouts here at T3 like this 30-minute full-body workout. However, there's no need to feel guilty if this still feels like a bit of a push at times as a new study published in Healthcare has revealed that just 15 minutes of daily exercise can significantly improve our health, including boosting our fitness, mood, and sleep.

Researchers at the University of South Australia analysed data from 11,575 participants in Australia, New Zealand and the UK who took part in the ‘15 Minute Challenge’, a wellness programme that encourages people to take part in 15 minutes of daily physical activity over a six-week period.

The results were extremely positive and saw participants average daily exercise increase by 12 minutes, averaging 85 minutes per week (the NHS recommends 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week which includes activities such as swimming, running, climbing stairs, cycling, etc). 

As well as this, participants also reported a 7.6% increase in sleep quality, a  7.1% increase in mood, and an 11.6% boost in mood. The biggest improvement, however, was in fitness levels, which increased by 14%.

By the end of the six weeks 95% of the participants were either meeting, or exceeding international physical activity guidelines and 92% said they would recommend the programme. So, the next time you try and beat yourself up for not spending hours in the gym (or for not even going), don't.

Want to improve your daily activity? Here's a 15-minute bodyweight workout to get you started, or if you're looking to do some resistance training with dumbbells or kettlebells, then give this 15-minute full-body workout a go.