The headline is clickbait. It's a huge stretch to say that the volunteers engaged in 1 minute of hard exercise. The workout was:
"[they] warmed up for two minutes on stationary bicycles, then pedaled as hard as possible for 20 seconds; rode at a very slow pace for two minutes, sprinted all-out again for 20 seconds; recovered with slow riding for another two minutes; pedaled all-out for a final 20 seconds; then cooled down for three minutes."
Sure, the exertions total to one minute, but the recovery periods and cooldown are a very important aspect of the workout. Muscles are still burning glucose and oxygen, clearing lactic acid, and generally doing all the things that exercise is good for during this time.
"[they] warmed up for two minutes on stationary bicycles, then pedaled as hard as possible for 20 seconds; rode at a very slow pace for two minutes, sprinted all-out again for 20 seconds; recovered with slow riding for another two minutes; pedaled all-out for a final 20 seconds; then cooled down for three minutes."
Sure, the exertions total to one minute, but the recovery periods and cooldown are a very important aspect of the workout. Muscles are still burning glucose and oxygen, clearing lactic acid, and generally doing all the things that exercise is good for during this time.