Super fast fitness come ons may sound more like infomercial speaking rather than science, but a study from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, recently showed that short bursts of sprint training exercise can be as effective as longer workouts. When eight women in their 20s followed a 2 week long sprint interval training program of four to seven sets of cycling for 30 seconds at maximum effort, followed by 4 minutes of rest, three times a week, their endurance capacity doubled compared to those in a control group who exercised regularly. These short bursts of exercise are as effective as an hour of daily moderate activity, says study author Martin Gbiala, Ph.D. He says he isn’t sure why, but notes that muscle biopsies in the sprint group found increases in a muscles ability to use oxygen. We say run with it, literally. Interval training is ideal for busy people, such as business travelers, who often have a hard time squeezing workouts into jammed on the road schedules.