Exercise is a great way to stay healthy. But who’s got time to jog around the neighborhood or hit the gym during the lunch hour? Some of us don’t have a spare five minutes in this hurly-burly world.
Check your schedule. Do you have an extra three seconds a day?
Australian and Japanese researchers decided to put to the test the question of whether minimal weight exercises could nonetheless improve muscle strength.
Scientists had a group of university students perform one type of muscle contraction with maximum effort for just three seconds a day, five days a week over the course of four weeks.
Participants were separated into groups that performed one of three exercises: isometric, eccentric or concentric bicep curls with a dumbbell. An isometric curl is when, for example, you hold the weight in a stationary position. No movement.
An eccentric movement is when you move your arm down while holding the weight. Concentric is the opposite — moving the weight toward your body.
Researchers measured arm strength before the four-week period began, and then afterward.
The eccentric bicep curls saw the biggest increase in strength. Even with just three seconds of exercise a day, arm strength in that group rose by 11½% overall, the most of any of the curls. But both isometric and concentric produced improvement, too, albeit to a lesser level.
Total time spent exercising during the four weeks: a whopping 60 seconds.
Of course, none of this means you should perform three seconds of arm curls to the exclusion of all other exercise. More exercise is better than less.
But in a pinch, maybe three seconds will do.