H.I.I.T. High Intensity Training: Benefits in 20 minutes

There is a trend towards higher intensity, shorter workouts.  Timothy Ferris has been touting this approach for strength training for a few years.
Here is an article explaining the theory and practice of intense one minute segments interspersed with moderate ones for a total of 20 minutes
 

“Recognizing, however, that few of us willingly can or will practice such straining all-out effort, the researchers also developed a gentler but still chronologically abbreviated form of HIIT. This modified routine involved one minute of strenuous effort, at about 90 percent of a person’s maximum heart rate (which most of us can estimate, very roughly, by subtracting our age from 220), followed by one minute of easy recovery. The effort and recovery are repeated 10 times, for a total of 20 minutes.
Despite the small time commitment of this modified HIIT program, after several weeks of practicing it, both the unfit volunteers and the cardiac patients showed significant improvements in their health and fitness.”

Here is a video explaining the process

 
It’s made me change the way I ride my bike to and from work with short one minute bursts of riding as fast as I can, and then moderately (observing Stop Signs, of course…)  Hard to believe that that amount of exercise would replace running, but I’d love to believe it!
What do you think?