Can the CAROL Bike *Really* Give You a Full Cardio Workout in 8 Minutes? I Tried It—And Asked an Expert

It’s 8:47 and I just got home from kindergarten. That means I actually have 13 splendidly free minutes before I should go surfing to work. What to do? I could go wild and swiffer the ground (God knows they need it). I used to be in a position to open my laptop earlier as usual. Or I could hop on the CAROL Bike in my lounge and get a full cardio workout for the day – with enough time to brew a fresh cup of coffee.

Yes, it’s possible: This high-tech stationary bike offers super-short yet intense, scientifically proven workouts to fulfill your aerobic needs before you even break a sweat.

Short “exercise snacks” have develop into a preferred technique to cram strength training or work-to-mobility into your spare moments during your work-from-home days. But most cardio workouts still require a good period of time to get their full endurance-building and heart-healthy advantages (think: a minimum of 20 to half-hour). Even in case you decide to do high-intensity interval training (HIIT)—which researchers say is way more efficient than moderate-intensity cardio—between your warm-up, cool-down, intervals, and recovery times, you are still often taking a look at a very good half an hour.

That’s why over the past decade, scientists have been pushing to see how low we will go. Answer? “A couple of sprints of 10 to twenty seconds are all you wish,” he says Dr. Lance Dalleck, professor of exercise and sports science at Western Colorado University who studies the results of exercise on our health.

The trick, nonetheless, is that these sprints should be picked max intensity to be truly effective.

How does CAROL Bike work?

CAROL stands for “Cardiovascular Optimization Logic,” which sounds very fancy, and well, in a way it’s.

Here’s the scientific version of the Cliff Notes: Studies have shown that in case you train hard enough for 20 seconds, you employ up enough muscle glycogen to trigger a cascade of useful metabolic changes while your body works to rebuild glycogen. “You activate those pathways that produce more mitochondria (resulting in improved cardiorespiratory fitness),” says Dr. Dalleck

That’s why CAROL’s signature workout lasts just eight minutes and consists of two 20-second sprints plus very low-intensity warm-up, recovery, and recovery periods.

This strategy was coined as “REHIT” or high-intensity, reduced-effort training. At first, it was only available in labs equipped with equipment that helped you sprint to the max with ideal intensity. But CAROL’s bike ($2595) brings that science right into people’s homes.

Dr. Dalleck was sponsored by the American Council on Exercise to do a variety of research on the CAROL bike over the past 4 years, taking a look at its effects on things like cardiorespiratory fitness, blood glucose regulation, and blood pressure.

“The reason the CAROL bike is effective is that it may be used, I call it ‘low grade AI’ where it’s in a position to detect the facility output of every sprint and the degree of fatigue and keep in mind that for the subsequent session,” he explains Dr. Dalleck. “So he personalizes this sprint for you.” This implies that each time you employ the bike, it measures how hard you are going during those 20-second sprints and the way your heart rate is responding, then recalibrates the resistance for the subsequent time so it never gets easier – even while you develop into fitter.

Studies show that by doing just three of those eight-minute workouts for eight weeks, you may increase your VO2 max (a measure of aerobic fitness) by over 12 percentlower blood pressure by five percent and reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes by 62 percent.

Such extreme results with so little time commitment may sound like science fiction, but Dr. Dalleck points out that the training design relies on many years of exercise science. “You can expect these kinds of advantages,” he says.

How to Ride CAROL Bike

The CAROL Bike touchscreen gives you access to 18 training programs. In the 2 months I’ve spent with my borrower, I concentrate on the one which matters (or a minimum of the one where all of the science hype is about): an 8-minute session with two 20-second sprints. Fitting it into the really useful thrice every week sounds easy. After all, I’m a fitness editor and I run marathons for fun.

After a couple of rides that got me going (starting with 10 after which 15 second sprints to figure it out), I’m ready for the true thing. I can make a choice from several different genres of background music or take heed to a lady telling me a story a couple of tiger attempting to eat me. After one walk with the tiger, I stick with the muzak.

Each ride starts with two minutes cool slow pedaling. As someone who has a nasty habit of accelerating the pace in every cardio workout, it takes a couple of tries to grasp how easy I actually have to do to maintain my heart rate in the correct zone. (The heart rate monitor strapped to my chest betrays me each time I get overzealous.) The bike manages the resistance for me, and at this point it’s almost nonexistent. Meanwhile, on-screen prompts indicate my ideal respiration pattern.

Then the screen turns red, the resistance builds, and I’m told to do my best to not develop into that tiger’s dinner. Let me let you know: while 20 seconds sounds short, the intensity of those sprints makes them really no joke.

They’re finally over though, and I actually have three minutes of recovery at this slow, resistance-free pace. This is followed by just yet one more 20 second push followed by a 3 minute cool right down to step by step bring my blood pressure, pulse and respiration back to normal for optimal recovery.

Technically, it’s an eight-minute, 40-second workout, but who’s counting?

Okay, I’m. Whenever. Although the training is brief, it doesn’t appear to pass quickly. I find slow pedaling so slow it’s frankly boring. I just wait for the sprint and infrequently scroll through my phone until it is time.

To be honest, I’m not someone who loves indoor cycling to start with, and I often need a reasonably pumped-up instructor or Taylor Swift’s deafeningly loud tunes to maintain me engaged. But before I attempted CAROL, I believed eight minutes wasn’t enough to get bored.

After a couple of weeks something in my bike engine breaks down and I actually have to confess I’m a bit of dissatisfied when customer support responds to my email inside an hour after which just after that they facetime me and send me a alternative part and repair to put in it just a couple of days Later. Can’t a lady find an excuse to skip an 8-minute workout here?

Who would CAROL be best for

In our conversation, I mention to Dr. Dalleck that I feel that irrespective of how efficient this machine is, I personally think it takes away from my enjoyment of exercising. He chuckles and explains that while it’s proven to be probably the most effective type of cardio, it is not meant to be a single magic bullet you simply use year-round (unless, hey, that is what you want).

“The seasons and the supply of individuals to calculate the ebb and flow,” Dr. Dalleck points out. “So if I actually have a month where it’s like, wow, I’m going to be really attached to time, or if it’s winter and it’s cold and it’s snowing, CAROL may be really attractive during those times of yr.”

Which is smart to me: It may very well be one tool in a periodic approach to training. No one says it’s an alternative choice to going for a leisurely run on an attractive day.

And there are occasions when this machine is really perfect. One study by Dr. Dalleck involved placing one CAROL Bike in a publicly accessible area at his university and one other in a standard room at a neighborhood hospital. “Our participants were university and hospital employees who were very busy,” he says. “The thing is, they needed a bit of, efficient training.” CAROL Bike was the right way for them to start out exercising without having to alter into sports clothes, because the training is designed to forestall sweating. (And, adds Dr. Dalleck, most participants even reported that they enjoyed it!)

I definitely understand the charm of “small, efficient”. As a working mom who currently trains for a marathon, there are days when squeezing through a 30- or 40-minute run just doesn’t occur. Hoping on a motorcycle for similar cardio advantages within the time it takes to cook pasta can keep me on the right track without feeling a burden on my schedule. Sure, personally it is probably not my favorite approach to get around. But the period of time it may prevent in a day makes it an incredibly powerful tool to make use of.