Exercising for just three seconds a day can benefit your health, study suggests

02 August 2023 , 20:42

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Small amount of lifting can be a benefit (Image: Getty Images/Tetra images RF)

Just three seconds of exercise three times a week can make you stronger, a study found.

Scientists asked healthy young volunteers to do one three-second bicep contraction either two or three days a week for four weeks. The arms of those exercising twice a week showed no change. But the three-times-a-week group got stronger. Their strength in lifting a weight went up an average of 2.5%. Lowering a weight, their strength increased by 3.9%.

Study leader Prof Kazunori Nosaka, of Australia’s Edith Cowan University, said: “Our work has shown that regular, shorter exercise is more beneficial than one or two big training sessions in a week. Now, we have a clearer idea of where the tipping point is where you start to see meaningful benefits from such a minimal exercise.”

Shorter exercise is more beneficial than big training sessions, researchers say (Getty Images/Westend61)

Prof Nosaka added: “Muscle adaptations occur when we are resting, so muscles need rest to improve their strength and muscle mass. It should be noted that the exercise was only three seconds, so the rest between exercises in the study was close to 28,800 times more than the exercise time. But muscles do appear to like to be stimulated more frequently, especially for the small volume of muscle strengthening exercise.”

Prof Nosaka recognised that for some people, 20 minutes of exercise a day is not possible and stated that even just five minutes a day can make a difference. He said: “Of course, more studies are needed to confirm this, but our recent studies show the importance of accumulating small amount of exercise as frequently as possible in a week.

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“It is important to note that even a very small amount of exercise can make a difference to our body, if it is performed regularly.” The study was run in collaboration with Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Japan.

Martin Bagot