Physiologist Martin Gibala Ph.D. and his team found that three-minute intervals on a stationary bike – 30 seconds of intense pedaling followed by a brief rest, repeated five or six times – led to the same muscle-cell adaptations as a bike ride lasting much longer, an hour and a half to two hours.

Adaptations included better time-trial performance (time to complete a set amount of work on a bike), increased oxidative capacity (ability of muscles to use oxygen), buffering capacity (ability to handle acidity during exercise), and glycogen content (more energy stores in the muscles).

Twelve weeks of sprint interval training improves indices of cardiometabolic health similar to traditional endurance training despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment. PLOS ONE (2016). Physiological adaptations to low-volume, high-intensity interval training in health and disease.