Achieving the perfect summer body requires blood, sweat, and tears spent in the gym for countless hours. Yes, that’s usually true, but get ready because science may have just thrown us the curve ball of the century with a new study.
We want to show you how you can get stronger by spending just 3 seconds a day.
A study shows a 3-second exercise could improve strength.
In the study, which was published in the Scandanavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 39 college students were chosen to perform just one muscle exercise for 3 seconds a day, 5 days a week.
There were 3 groups in this experiment. The first did an eccentric biceps curl, meaning they focused on getting the weight off their shoulders. The second group was doing a variation of the exercise called isometric biceps curls, which involves lifting the weight up to the shoulders. Then there was a third control group, just relaxed and not doing any kind of exercise.
The results
We know you’re eager to hear the results, so let’s cut to the chase. People doing the eccentric biceps curl had a 12% increase in strength, the second group doing the isometric curl had a less significant strength increase, and the chill group saw no change. Well, it certainly looks promising, but don’t abandon your training plan for this 3-second workout just yet.
It doesn’t really replace regular exercise.
Personal trainers remind us that physical health has many components: maintaining and achieving good mobility, taking care of our respiratory system, and improving our muscular condition, just to name a few.
So to think that there is some kind of shortcut to achieving physical stability is a bit naïve. Yes, the study showed that the 3-second exercise promoted some strength gains, but it doesn’t account for muscle development.
We must also acknowledge the fact that the sample size in the study was quite small. Also, they may have benefited from something called newbie gains, when inexperienced lifters gain strength faster than gym veterans.
The people that can benefit
For most of us, mere biceps won’t give us Thor’s confidence, nor will they give us his bulging muscles. However, this finding could still benefit some people in a positive way.
Take, for example, older people who suffer from loss of muscle mass and strength. This stretching exercise routine may be enough of a way for them to maintain their physical abilities somewhat.
It can also serve as a morale boost for people who find the gym to be a very scary place and believe that change requires a great deal of effort.
What do you think about these findings? Are you willing to try it yourself? Leave a comment.
