<i>Why on earth didn&#x27;t they have a control group that did 10 minutes of slow cycling instead of a bunch of couch potatoes that did nothing?</i><p>It&#x27;s the journalism that failed you. If you go to a quality site like mensfitness rather than NYT, you&#x27;ll find:<p>&quot;To prove it, the researchers put 27 sedentary men to the test. For 12 weeks, nine of the men were asked to perform three weekly sessions of intense sprint interval training on stationary bikes, 10 were assigned to moderate-intensity continuous training (also on bikes), and six served as the control group, completing no exercise. ...<p>&quot;After three months, all the athletes exhibited similar results and health benefits—even though the moderate-intensity continuous training involved five times as much exercise and a five-fold greater time commitment.&quot;<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mensfitness.com&#x2F;training&#x2F;workout-routines&#x2F;10-minute-cycling-workout-thats-just-effective-50-minute-routine" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mensfitness.com&#x2F;training&#x2F;workout-routines&#x2F;10-minu...</a>