No need for costly gym fees with Helen Mirren's workout

Tanya Sweeney tries out an exercise routine inspired by the Royal Canadian Air Force programme which raises her endorphins and gets her supple in 12 minutes

TWELVE minutes doesn’t sound like an awful lot of time: it’s one half of a soap opera, or an average YouTube clip. Yet in today’s breakneck world, 12 minutes is about all most people can really spare on keeping themselves in shape. Fitness experts have already cottoned on to the idea that people are time-poor, and have devised the HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). HIIT provides a core-shaking, high-octane workout in minimal time. What’s more, experts claimed that even just three minutes of focused exercise could provide similar health benefits to slogging away for a half-hearted hour in the gym. But it’s no walk in the park, because in HIIT, every minute counts: it’s a short, sharp shock to the system, and perhaps not ideal for everyone.

Still, there has to be a middle ground between 12 minutes of corporeal torture and… well, just sitting on the couch. And Helen Mirren appears to have found it.

Inspired by the Royal Canadian Air Force programme, the XBX workout (or 5BX for men) originated in the 1950s and the workout book sold 23 million copies down the years. There’s no need for pricey gym gear, equipment or even a DVD… the routine consists of ten exercises that take 1-2 minutes each (about 15 reps in each case).

First up is touching the toes, followed by raising the knees towards the chest. Lateral bending (sliding hands towards the waist) is next, then making large circles with the arms. So far, so simple.

After that, there’s some floor work: partial sit-ups, then chest and leg raising as you lie face down (a familiar Pilates move), then side leg raising. Push-ups are next (although unlike a regular push up, you push yourself up onto your knees. Leg lifting is then followed by two minutes of running on the spot. The entire workout is finished with hopping off the floor in quick succession.

In a way, it’s the original Interval Training regime: in just 12 minutes, every single muscle gets a workout. And let’s be fair: Helen’s magnificent hips don’t lie. If the dame herself can rock a red bikini in her late 60s, there has to be something in it for the rest of us.

I’m what you might call a lapsed gym bunny. Three months ago, I was hitting the gym up to four times a week, somehow fitting in weights sessions, conditioning classes and treadmill running into a heaving working week. Then summer rolled around, and that was the end of that. I didn’t so much fall off the wagon as execute a spectacular swan dive off it. There were three-course pasta meals in Italy; a boozy festival weekend in Barcelona, and countless evenings of al fresco drinking back in Ireland (complete with the obligatory kebab on the way home). I wasn’t going to let our unusually sunny summer go uncelebrated… but I was shocked and appalled to find that my fitness levels had plummeted in recent weeks.

The XBX workout starts out simply enough; the toe touching, arm circling and lateral bending are good for limbering up and stretching. The partial sit-ups, however, leave me slightly breathless. My tummy muscles have effectively had the summer off to carry on to their liking, and they’re not best pleased at having to do some actual work. Likewise, the chest and leg raising and side-leg raising burn in all the right places. By the time the push-ups and leg lifting exercises are over, nine minutes in, my core is fully engaged. Well, it’s doing something.

RUNNING on the spot for a minute or so is the only really exerting part of the XBX workout, as is the on-the-spot hopping. 12 minutes in, and I’ve broken a sweat. And my heart is definitely going. The good news is that I feel energised and activated. The endorphins are definitely doing their thing. The bad news is that it feels less like a full workout and more like a warm-up. Is it because I’m a dyed-in-the-wool believer in ‘no pain, no gain?’. Is it because weeks of slaving away in the gym have me conditioned to believe that a workout is only really a workout if you’re begging for clemency, and a big lie-down, after it? Still, I’m impressed at what can be achieved with the Mounties’ regime in 12 minutes. I’m not sure the XBX will deliver much in the way of strength, weight loss and muscle tone, but the exercises are great for mobility, and keeping a body supple. Older fitness enthusiasts, or those with a very sedentary lifestyle, will certainly find much to like in this workout: it’s gentle and non-dynamic, but offers a real sense of accomplishment once those 12 minutes are up. It’s highly accessible and can be done any time and any place.

Mirren's Moves