Health and wellbeing expert Dr Michael Mosley has given his opinion on the ‘best single way’ to exercise and lose weight. The diet guru who is known for his version of the 5:2 and Fast 800 eating plans was speaking on his Radio 4 show Just One Thing . Dr Mosley said that taking part in high intensity interval training (HIIT) was one of the most profound ways of helping you live longer, improve heart health, lose weight and reduce risk of getting diabetes. The 66-year-old said that he like to do a blast involving squats, planks and star jumps, saying people don’t need expensive gym equipment and can just use their own body weight . He explained:” e know exercise is good for us, but many people struggle to fit it in. If this sounds like you, it could be the answer. Not only can you burn more calories in less time, but it can build your muscles and boost your brain power. What’s more, you can introduce intervals of more vigorous intensity into almost any exercise running cycling. Even your morning walk.” “It’s really about adapting it to your current level of fitness, and in the long term, it can have big benefits, increasing muscle strength, fitness, improving your heart and reducing your risk of Type two diabetes.” He said that something like high intensity walking was a good way to up the tempo - for example fitting in a 20-minute walk at lunchtime and introduce intervals of going fast for three minutes and then normal pace. He also suggested later in the week replacing a walk with a short workout - “You do five lots of one minute intervals. These are either running on the spot or going up the stairs, so you do a little bit of gentle warm up. Then you go fairly hard for one minute. You have a breather for one minute until you’ve done a total of five minutes of fairly vigorous workout. That should get you done within 15 minutes.” Dr Mosley said high intensity exercise has a big impact on the body’s mitochondria cells which ‘tend to become less effective as we age’. He explained: “ In a recent study, volunteers were asked to do hit cycling at maximum intensity for four lots of four minutes. They did this three times a week. After three months, they’d not only improve muscle mass and strength, but increase their mitochondrial activity by up to 70%.” Exercise can also improve brain performance because if done at high intensity muscles produce lots of lactate as fuel which in the brain creates a hormone stimulating the production of new brain cells and which helps protect existing ones. Dr Mosley added: “ A Norwegian study randomised 1500 adults to either doing hit moderate excise or a control group, and they were asked to stick to this protocol for five years. It turned out that he had the biggest impact on both quality of life and fitness. It also led to the biggest reductions in death from all causes.”