Monday 15 August 2022 03:40 PM Lift weights five days a week to get stronger but just push hard once a week to ... trends now

Monday 15 August 2022 03:40 PM Lift weights five days a week to get stronger but just push hard once a week to ... trends now
Monday 15 August 2022 03:40 PM Lift weights five days a week to get stronger but just push hard once a week to ... trends now

Monday 15 August 2022 03:40 PM Lift weights five days a week to get stronger but just push hard once a week to ... trends now

When it comes to getting stronger, how often you exercise is more important than how hard you push yourself.

A study has found people see bigger gains in muscle strength if they spread their workouts over a week instead of cramming it into one day.

Two groups did the exact same number of bicep curls using the heaviest dumbbells they could, one over five days and another in one day.

Those who did more frequent weight training saw their muscle strength increase by around 10 per cent in four weeks.

While the once-a-week group did not see any strength gains, their muscle thickness increased by a third more.

Lead researcher Professor Ken Nosaka, director of exercise and sport science at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, said: 'People think they have to do a lengthy session of resistance training in the gym, but that's not the case.

'Just lowering a heavy dumbbell slowly once or six times a day is enough.' 

A study has found people see bigger gains in muscle strength if they spread their workouts over a week instead of cramming it into one day. Two groups did the exact same number of exercises, one over five days and another in one day

A study has found people see bigger gains in muscle strength if they spread their workouts over a week instead of cramming it into one day. Two groups did the exact same number of exercises, one over five days and another in one day

Researchers recruited 36 student volunteers in their early twenties from Niigata University in Japan.

They were split into three groups and told to perform 'maximal voluntary eccentric bicep contractions' with their preferred arm.

The arm resistance exercise consisted of lowering the heaviest dumbbell they could in a bicep curl. 

They did this while attached to a special chair that measures the strength in each muscle used for the exercise.

One group did six contractions per day for five days a week, another did 30 reps once per week, while the third group performed six contractions once per week.

Changes in muscle strength and thickness were measured and compared four weeks later.

The findings are published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.

Those who did 30 reps in one day did not see any change in muscle strength but their muscle thickness increased 5.8 per cent.

HOW MUCH EXERCISE SHOULD I DO? 

Adults aged 19 to 64 are advised to exercise daily.

The NHS says Britons should do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity a week. 

The advice is the same for disabled adults, pregnant women and new mothers. 

Exercising just one or twice a week can reduce the risk of heart disease or

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