An Australian study has found that a little exercise a day can be better for building strong muscle than a few longer sessions per week.
Research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports shows that it is frequency, not volume, that produces the best results when exercising.
Ken Nosaka, professor of exercise and sport science at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, who was involved in the study, said: “People think they have to do an extended endurance workout in the gym. sex, but it’s not. Press Release.
“Just lowering a heavy dumbbell slowly once or six times a day is enough.”
The study, conducted in collaboration with Niigata University and Nishi Kyushu University in Japan, looked at changes in muscle strength and thickness – which are used as an indicator of muscle size – in three groups of participants for four weeks.
Participants performed eccentric biceps contractions on a muscle strength meter. This exercise is similar to lowering a heavy dumbbell in a crunch, the researchers say.
Two groups performed 30 contractions per week, with one group doing six contractions per day for five days and the other doing all 30 in one day once a week. The third group performed six contractions a day a week.
After four weeks, the researchers say the group that performed six contractions five days a week saw a “significant” increase in muscle strength of more than 10 percent, as well as an increase in muscle thickness.
The group that performed 30 contractions in a day did not see an increase in muscle strength, but the researchers reported a 5.8 percent increase in muscle thickness, similar to the first group.
Meanwhile, the third group performed six contractions once a week, with no change in muscle strength or thickness.
“We only used biceps curl in this study, but we believe the same will happen with other muscles, at least to some extent,” says Nosaka.
He said the results could be down to how often the brain is required to make muscles work in a particular way.
At the same time, he emphasizes the importance of rest in a workout regimen.
“Muscles need rest to improve their strength and muscle mass, but muscles seem to want to be stimulated more often,” says Nosaka.
He concluded by saying that going to the gym once a week is not as effective as exercising every day at home.
“We need to know that every muscle contraction counts, and how often you do them counts,” says Nosaka.
