It'll be an uncomfortable seven minutes, but it could be a more effective workout than hours spent running or weight training, Florida researchers say. In a new study published in the American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Journal, two experts said that a combination of 12 exercises done over the course of seven minutes could be just as good for you as hours spent on other kinds of exercise, according to a preview of an upcoming New York Times Magazine column.

The workout is high-intensity and uses a person's own body weight as resistance, the Times says. Each exercise takes 30 seconds, with a 10-second rest in between each one. The exercises alternate between the large muscles of the upper body and those of the lower body, the authors told the Times, with a significant order to the exercises.

"The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while, throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10," the Times adds. "Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you're done."

The routine starts with jumping jacks, followed by wall sitting, push-ups, crunches, stepping up onto a chair, squats, tricep dips, the plank, running in place, lunges, rotation push-ups, and side plank.

Klika, B, Jordan, C. High-Intensity Circuit Training Using Body Weight: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment. Health & Fitness Journal. 2013; 17:3. Accessed May 10, 2013.