Can I Get Stronger With Just 3 Seconds A Day Of Exercise? The Science Of Strength Training. Making Time To Get Stronger During The Day.

Do you want to improve your muscular strength? 

What’s stopping you? 

Is life simply too busy? 

Maybe you think you need to exercise anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour three times a week or more to build your strength. 

Well new research is showing that you can build your strength in less time than that, in fact a LOT less time!!! 

New research that came out in February 2022 demonstrated that performing a 3 second maximum effort eccentric arm exercise 5 days a week for 4 weeks improved arm strength by 11.5 %!!!!!

 That’s significant!

Is this a joke? 

Far from it!

It seems shocking that you can build strength in such a short period of time.

 Let’s take a look at some of the concepts that support this phenomenon. 

The Study

The study was done by Edith Cowan University in collaboration with researchers from Nigata University of Health and Welfare in Japan. For four weeks, five days a week, 39 healthy university students performed one eccentric bicep muscle contraction for 3 seconds at maximum effort. The results from the study were that even in 60 seconds total of exercise over a 4 week period a muscle can improve in strength.

Source:

Abstract from the Scandanavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.14138

Eccentic Load

There’s two basic movement patterns or types of contractions in skeletal muscles; an eccentric and a concentric contraction. 

An eccentric contraction is when a muscle lengthens. 

A concentric contraction is when a muscle shortens. 

For example during a squat, your quadriceps, the muscles in front of the thigh bone, lengthen when you lower in a squat, and they shorten when you return to standing. 

The lowering phase in a squat is the eccentric contraction and when you return back up to standing that is the concentric phase.

Generally speaking a concentric muscle contraction is easier to produce. 

You can generate more power and access more a muscle while it's shortening. 

On the other hand, it is harder to control a muscle while it is lengthening. 

More injuries occur during the lengthening phase. 

However this is also the phase where you can build more muscle and strength. 

In this study the focus was placed on the eccentric contraction as the arm lowered the weight during a bicep curl.

By focusing more on the eccentric contraction for 3 seconds the muscle works harder than if it was working during the concentric portion. 

Time and Intensity relationship

Time and intensity have an inverse relationship. 

For example, you can walk for hours but it is hard to sprint for a long duration.

 This illustrations the inverse relationship. 

When the intensity of a movement goes up the duration goes down and vice versa. 

When it comes to weight lifting you can lift a light weight for 50 reps but if you lift a heavy weight you may only be able to do 1 to 5 reps. 

In the study we are looking at, the subjects used a maximum weight indicating that it was heavy enough to feel work during one repetition. 

Therefore if you are experimenting with this method ensure that the weight is heavy enough that you feel some work. 

Scope and Limitations

An important note is that while this method will improve muscle strength it has its limitations. This method will not give you the physique of a bodybuilder nor will it condition you with the endurance to play sports. It holds an important role in your options for strength training though it’s essential to know its scope and limitations. 

Application

How can I apply this training method to my own workouts?

How can I use this technique on my whole body?

Well, first of all, there are many different approaches to strength training.

One method is to do a full body workout two or three times a week.

Another method is to utilize a split routine.

Traditionally a split routine breaks up the body into different muscle groups throughout the week. 

A split routine is used to place extra emphasis on a certain group of muscles while allowing another group to rest and recover from a workout a couple days prior.

A typical split routine may look like a push day on Monday, pull day on Wednesday, and leg day on Friday. 

The push day works the chest, tricep, and shoulders.

 The pull day works the biceps, latissimus, the shoulders, and the middle back. 

The leg day comprehensively targets the lower body. 

Typically during these training sessions a weight is used so that each set might contain 8 to 12 repetitions. 

The muscles worked during a specific workout may become sore as they recover in the next 2 to three days. 

By focusing the next workout on a different body part it lets the sore muscles rest and repair.

However, as indicated in this study, the bicep muscle was worked every day. 

 Since the participants only did one repetition it is suggested that this doesn’t produce the soreness typically created from a multi set split routine. 

In terms of applying this principle to the rest of the body you can approach this a couple ways. If you want to follow the format developed in the study, you would perform a maximum eccentric contraction for each muscle group in the body for 3 seconds 5 days a week. You could do it every other day or even 3 days a week. While these variations diverge from the structure used in the study it still will have an effect on the muscles as opposed to doing no strength training. 

So how can I train all the major muscle groups in the body with a focus on the eccentric contraction?

Well the eccentric portion is typically the lowering phase of an exercise. 

For example during a pull up, it's when you are lowering your body back down towards the ground. 

During a squat it's when you are lowering down to the floor. 

Similarly, for a push up it’s when you are lowering down to the floor. 

You get the gist. 

Also, as you are doing these exercises include the concentric phase of the movement so that you are working the full range of the joints and muscles.  

If you put this all together, a full body routine may look like:

1) 1 slow push up spending 3 seconds in the lowering phase, you can always add a weighted vest to make it harder or elevate your feet.

2) 1 slow pull up with 3 seconds on the lowering phase, you can add a weighted vest, chain, or hang a dumbbell on your waist for more challenge. You could also do a bent over row instead with dumbbells or a barbell to work similar muscles. 

3) 1 slow squat with 3 seconds on the lowering phase, you can add dumbbells or a barbell to add more weight or perform a 1 leg pistol squat on each leg for more challenge.

4) For the abdominals there are so many exercises to choose from. 

Since a majority of daily movement uses the abdominals as trunk stabilizers, a good place to start is an ab exercise that does not flex or bend the spine. 

Some examples are forearm plank, side plank on the forearms, an ab roller, or a hanging leg lift.  

One idea is to do a hanging leg lift spending 3 seconds on the lowering phase.  

As your abdominal strength improves continue to add more challenging variation of abdominal exercises. 

5) 1 slow dead lift with 3 seconds on the lowering phase holding either dumbbells or a barbell. 

6) 1 slow shoulder press with 3 seconds on the lowering phases holding either dumbbells or a barbell. 

With six movements in total, depending on if you are training each limb separate or together this should take somewhere around a minute to complete. 

We all have a minute to dedicate to exercise!

Greater Intensity, Greater Benefits, Yet Greater Injury Potential

An essential principle in this type of training is proper form. 

Anytime you increase the effort or intensity of an exercise you are placing more stress on the body. 

You will obtain greater benefits in a shorter period of time.

There is also a greater potential for injury. 

To maximize the gains and benefits while minimizing the risk or injury, proper form in your best friend. 

What does that mean?

Take your time to learn all these exercises before you start loading up the weight. 

Do them with minimal intensity at first. 

First learn the skill and then later increase the challenge.

Become so familiar that the alignment, technique, and proper posture becomes second nature.

In doing so when you increase the weight or intensity of the exercise you will ensure that you body is working efficiently. 

This will help to prevent injury. 

Conclusion

As you increase the intensity of a workout the duration decreases. 

The more you slow down a movement and focus on the eccentric contraction when a muscle is lengthening, the more strength you will build.

With these principles in mind, you can strengthen each muscle with just 3 seconds per muscle group each day. 

Focus on your form and technique. 

As the movement becomes easier, find a more challenging variation of the exercise or add additional weight so your muscles can continue improving in strength. 

May your strength continue to improve as you incorporate this amazing and time efficient method!

For any questions on how to strengthen your muscles in the most time efficient way contact me at www.KaiBodyMindWellness.com

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