Just two minutes of pulse-pounding, intense exercise each week can be enough for prevention of Type 2 diabetes, shows the new research.

British researchers from Abertay University found that doing just two sessions of high-intensity training (HIT) weekly not only reduces the risk of developing diabetes, but is also as nearly as beneficial as engaging in the recommended 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week, Newsmax Health reports with reference to Medical Xpress.

The findings, published in the journal Biology, are based on an analysis of overweight adults at high-risk of developing diabetes who took part in a HIT regime for a period of eight weeks. The workouts involved 10 sets of twice-weekly sprints on an exercise bike, with each sprint lasting just six seconds — for a total of just two minutes of exercise per week.

The short, but high-intensity workouts were enough to significantly improve cardiovascular health and insulin sensitivity — the body's ability to clear blood sugar from the bloodstream — in the participants.