Would you believe it if we told you that you can maintain your muscles and keep them toned if you workout regularly? Of course. It’s a fact. But, would you even be able to digest if we said that that workout needs to be just three seconds long? You would say we are joking, but we are not.
A team of researchers at the Edith Cowan University, Australia, in collaboration with Niigata University of Health and Welfare (NUHW), Japan, has devised a study suggesting that a three-second-long workout per day can have a positive impact on muscle strength.
The research was conducted on 39 students from the Niigata University of Health who were told to perform a muscle contraction for three seconds per day over four weeks. The three kinds of contractions – Isometric, Concentric, and Eccentric – were supposed to be performed at maximum effort.
In addition to this, 13 students who did no exercise were also part of the research. The results showed that students who exercised for three seconds, every five days a week for four weeks, displayed development in their muscles. On the other hand, students who did not exercise at all showed no sign of development.
“The study results suggest that a very small amount of exercise stimulus – even 60 seconds in four weeks – can increase muscle strength,” said Prof Ken Nosaka, lead author of the study, Edith Cowan University, in a press release. Prof Ken added, “Many people think you have to spend a lot of time exercising, but it is not the case. Short, good quality exercise can still be good for your body, and every muscle contraction counts.”
The study also found that out of the three contractions, the muscles showed the most developments when performing Eccentric muscle contraction, which is basically the elongation of the muscle under concentration. “Although the mechanisms underpinning eccentric contraction’s potent effects are not clear yet, the fact that only a three-second maximal eccentric contraction a day improves muscle strength in a relatively short period is important for health and fitness,” said Prof Ken.
