3-minute workout to release nitric oxide

[JGeropoulas]

I thought for sure that I'd originally seen this information on the forum, but repeated searches found nothing posted. The briefness of this workout (3 minutes, twice a day) seems as unbelievable as the HIIT workout discussed here: Body by Science / HIIT Experiment.

This workout, created by Dr. Zack Bush, who calls it the "Nitric Oxide Dump", is being promoted by Dr. Joe Mercola, who explains,

you can improve your mitochondrial health, slowing down age-related muscle decline. The fact is, if you live in the U.S. and work full time, you sit an average of 13 hours a day, then sleep for an average of eight. This means you're sedentary 21 hours of the day!

Your body wasn't designed for that. It functions best when you're ctive more so than not, and by breaking up your day with bursts of activity, you can reap great rewards. Take nitric oxide (NO), a soluble gas stored in the lining of your blood vessels, called the endothelium. NO is produced inside your endothelial cells from the amino acid L-arginine, where it acts as an important signaling molecule throughout your body.

Along with promoting healthy endothelial function and heart health, NO supports healthy blood flow by helping your veins and arteries dilate. This, in turn, allows vital oxygen and nutrients to flow freely throughout your body. NO also plays a protective role in your mitochondrial health, the energy storehouse of your cells, responsible for the utilization of energy for all metabolic functions.

Even your skeletal muscle, which is made up of only about 1 percent to 2 percent mitochondria, depend on these energy powerhouses to fuel your daily movements. When you exercise and your muscles ache, it's because you've run out of oxygen, which your body compensates for by releasing NO (to dilate your blood vessels making it easier for oxygen to be delivered).

This process fuels muscle development, but here's the secret that's not widely known: When you exercise, it takes only about 90 seconds for your blood vessels to run out of stored nitric oxide and begin the process of making more. "So working each major muscle group out for 90 seconds," says Dr. Zach Bush, "gives you the most efficient workout to tone and build muscles.

Dr. Mercola's 3-minute "Nitric Oxide Dump" workout is a modified version of one developed by Dr. Zack Bush. Here's the link to the article, which includes a video demonstration of the workout:
Can You Really Get Fit in Six Minutes Per Week?

 

[Jacques]

Here's the video of Dr Mercola

 

[Laura]

3 minutes, twice a day, is 42 minutes a week. And it doesn't have all the long term super benefits of the "Body by Science" HIIT routine once a week. I'll stick with the latter, thank you.

 

[nicklebleu]

Me too ... the science in BBS is quite comeplling, I think, and only having done it TWICE, I feel that my body already has started to transform. Best of all, it also seems to take care of my lower back pain (in the past the only thing that did that was indoor rowing, which I still do but maybe once a week at super-low intensity, just for the movement).

 

[JGeropoulas]

3 minutes, twice a day, is 42 minutes a week. And it doesn't have all the long term super benefits of the "Body by Science" HIIT routine once a week. I'll stick with the latter, thank you.

That's the way I'm leaning too. I've been doing the NO Dump as a mini-aerobic energizer during the day when I feel the need but plan to begin the HIIT routine soon.