Niigata University of Health and Welfare and Edith Cowan University have discovered that only lifting weights for three seconds each day could improve muscle strength over time. They found that doing one bicep curl with maximum effort daily could increase muscle strength by up to 10% in one month.
How researchers conducted the study
The researchers gathered 39 college students and asked them to do a muscle contraction each day for three days. Volunteers would repeat this five days a week until the study was over. The experiment took place for four weeks.
The team asked the volunteers to perform different forms of muscle contraction exercises. These were eccentric, isometric, and concentric bicep curls. One group of students, which acted as the control, did not participate in the exercise. Before the experiments, the researchers had measured the maximum voluntary contraction of each participant. They retook this test at the end of the study.
Researchers discovered that the group that performed eccentric bicep curls gained the most muscle strength. The group that didn’t do any exercises didn’t gain muscle strength.
According to the lead researcher from Edith Cowan University, Professor Ken Nosaka, the study proves that even minimal exercise, if done at full effort, could improve muscle strength. These findings contradict the belief that people need a lot of exercises to be healthy. They instead encourage people to focus on good quality exercise rather than the time.
The study focused on different stages of a bicep curl
A typical bicep curl involves eccentric, concentric, and isometric motions. However, it is possible to separate these movements from each other. For the isometric curl, the muscle remains stationary while someone holds a weight. A concentric action involves one moving the arms with the weight towards their chest, causing the muscle to shorten.
The eccentric action is usually the last motion for people lifting weights. It involves pulling your arm away from your chest while holding the weight. This action causes the muscle to lengthen.
The team found that eccentric bicep curl to be the most beneficial despite all three of them increasing muscle strength. The reason is that eccentric action used the most effort—the students who performed this movement experience a 12.8% increase in muscle strength.
