It’s possible you’ve never considered working out for only five minutes. It doesn’t sound like enough time to make a difference. After all, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion says that aerobic activity lasting longer than 10 minutes in duration counts toward the 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutesTrusted Source of vigorous aerobic exercise you should aim to get each week. But that doesn’t mean shorter, high-intensity exercises can’t help.

A study from the University of Utah shows that all those little bits and pieces of exercise you do throughout the day can add up to something big. In fact, even a single “brisk” minute of moving can have a noticeable impact.

Women who incorporated short bursts of high-intensity activities into everyday life had a small decrease in their body mass index (BMI), compared to control subjects. Men had similar results. The calorie burn during this short but intense session of exercise allowed the women to weigh about 1/2 pound less than their non-active counterparts. The odds of obesity also went down for both men and women who did these quickie workouts. The key is ramping up the intensity level of whatever you’re doing, versus focusing solely on the length of time.

Benefits of regular exercise include everything from losing weight to getting better sleep to increasing energy levels. Keeping fit can also help tremendously with your self-confidence. So, shouldn’t anything count toward this goal? Well, researchers are discovering that even exercise sessions as sort as a minute may help you keep fit and active.