And starting points are important when themajority of Australians don’t meet the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and two strength sessions each week,nor do they move enough generally throughout the day.
The difference 3.9 per cent more strength can make differs person to person,but may improve our ability to carry out daily tasks,says Professor Tim Olds from the University of South Australia’s school of Allied Health and Human Performance.
And although five days of contractions is better than three –just as 10,000 steps is better than 6000 – it’s important to understand the tipping point where we start to see a meaningful difference.
“It never ceases to surprise me how just a tiny stimulus can produce gains like that,” says Olds.
Though most people don’t have access to the kind of equipment used in the study,Nosaka adds that there are equivalent exercises we can do at home,including lifting a heavy dumbbell with both arms,and lowering it slowly with one arm.
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“We have found that using a dumbbell approximately two-thirds of our maximal strength can still have similar effect to that by maximal contraction using a machine,” he says,adding that using our body weight is another way to simulate the exercise.“Sit down on a chair slowly. Then you can put more weight to one leg,if possible,or sitting to a chair slowly with one leg for more challenge.”
For tiny exercise snacks to be effective,they need to be hard,says Olds. “The intensity effect is what’s important here. You’re effectively trading off intensity against time.”
Along with intensity,eccentric exercises have particular properties that increase our strength.
We can lower up to 200 per cent of the weight we can lift,for instance. And eccentric exercises also create more muscle damage.
“The muscle fibres are lengthening,but they’re trying to contract at the same time,and so they’re basically being pulled apart,” Olds says. “This causes damages,and it’s that,and the repair of it,which is thought to account for the benefits that one gets from eccentric training.”
The takeaway,beyond the need for three sessions (or snacks) a week to get stronger,is that we should not underestimate the power of every move we make.
“Every muscle contraction counts,” says Nosaka. “It can make a difference. It is better to do even one contraction a day than nothing.”
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