It can be hard to find time to exercise daily, even though it is an important activity for maintaining one’s health. For some, it is easier to carve out a bit of time each day, while others find that longer periods of exercise once or twice a week are more doable. A question to be asked is whether the two approaches are equally beneficial.
A new study from researchers at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, and Japan’s Niigata University and Nishi Kyushu University found that they are not.
The researchers found that small amounts of exercise five days a week improved muscle more than a single extended weekly exercise session.
The corresponding author of the study, Dr. Masatoshi Nakamura, told Medical News Today:
“We believe if you’re just going to the gym once a week, it’s not as effective as doing a bit of exercise every day at home.”
“It is also good to keep up a hard workout at the gym. However, I think it is a hurdle for many people,” Dr. Nakamura added.
The gains were the result of a single set of six eccentric resistance exercises, performed each weekday.
Strength training exercises usually include three phases: a concentric phase, an isometric phase, and an eccentric phase.
The concentric phase focuses on shortening the target muscle, reaching its peak contraction to overcome gravity or some other form of resistance load. The isomeric phase corresponds to the transition point of an exercise in which the muscle is stationary following the concentric phase. Finally, the eccentric phase follows the isometric phase, in which the muscle is lengthened under load to return to its starting position.
Eccentric training focuses on lengthening your muscles under tension, usually by slowing it down as a means to increase the intensity and illicit certain benefits.
