Three minutes of high intensity exercise can be just as effective as half an hour at the gym: Fitness expert

It is hard to make time for exercise with full-time jobs, especially cause one has to workout at least an hour to see any results.

Well not anymore, experts claim all you need to stay fit and healthy is 180 seconds worth of high-intensity exercise five times a week.

Kusal Goonewardena, a sports physiotherapist who works with Australian athletes, told the Daily Telegraph that a three-minute high intensity workout five times every week trains your body into craving more and more exercise. 

"It gives the body momentum to take it to another level, once you push yourself outside of your comfort zone and get the benefits, it becomes a habit for you and the body starts to crave more and more exercise," he said to the daily.

He added that reaching 85 per cent intensity in a short period has the same effects as a 30 minute low-intensity workout.

Short bursts of intense exercises like non-stop skipping, sprinting or star jumps for three minutes raises your heart rate and releases endorphins.

These 180 seconds of intense exercise for over three weeks makes you body crave more exercise and helps you get fitter, says Kusal.

According to the fitness expert, if one simply sticks to the three-minute high intensity interval training, that will be enough and must be done five days out of seven.  

However if one combines it with some low-intensity and moderate-intensity exercises, then the high intensity workout can be done twice a week.

High-intensity training, or HIIT, is a popular fitness theory that small bursts of intense exercises like fierce peddling on an exercise bike or running at top speed on the treadmill, are far more effective than slow-burning workouts.