Weekend Warrior or 3-Second Workout?

Are you a weekend warrior? Or do you try to exercise regularly?

To get the best benefits from your exercise routine, how often should you exercise?

Does it matter?

The answer to every exercise question is “it depends” including how often should I exercise?

New research shows that 3 seconds of exercise has benefits…I am not totally convinced about this, but I guess almost nothing is better than nothing.

The 3-Second Workout

Researchers at Edith Cowan University in Australia wanted to know how many days a week you need to exercise to see benefits. They had participants do one exercise 5 days a week for four weeks, and then in a follow-up study, 26 participants performed one exercise either two days a week or three days a week.

The exercise the participants did was a single three-second, maximum-effort eccentric bicep contraction. Meaning that the participants lowered the heaviest weight they could with one arm.

The results showed improved strength in three days versus two days and more improvements for five days a week. They concluded that more muscle stimulation is better for fitness and this was in healthy, young adults.

The fine print

It is important to remember that the improvements in muscle strength occur during the recovery phase, so if you exercise for 3 seconds every day you are still getting 28,800 times more rest than exercise.

The conclusion

The results do indicate that regular muscle stimulation, no matter how small, makes a difference in strength and muscle health for healthy, young adults. Study lead Professor Ken Nosaka states,

“It may be that exercising once a week for two hours is less effective than exercising every day for 20 minutes. If it is not possible to have 20 minutes a day for exercise, even five minutes a day makes a difference for fitness and health. 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.”

Ken Nosaka

The study proves what most people already consider good advice, try to be active most days. It is better to do a shorter workout, than miss a workout, just because you can’t do it all.

The Weekend Warrior

Recently there has been a lot of news about how being a weekend warrior has the same health benefits as exercising regularly during the week. Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital investigated activity patterns of more than 89,000 people wearing accelerometers, which record activity, time and intensity. They wanted to know if being a weekend warrior reduced the risk of heart disease and stroke.

24% of the people studied exercised regularly, getting at least the recommended 150 minutes of exercise spread out during their week.

42% were weekend warriors, getting more than half of their exercise on 1-2 days per week.

37% did not meet the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week.

The results showed that any exercise improves cardiovascular health with regular exercise reducing the risks by 35% and being a weekend warrior reduces the risk of heart attacks by 27%.

The fine print

Cardiovascular risk reduction is not the only reason people exercise.

Being a weekend warrior is better than not exercising, but, the chance of injury goes up significantly when exercise is loaded into one or two days. Muscle needs regular stress and rest to avoid injury. Progressive overload is the key to getting stronger, which makes all of our activities more enjoyable.

The conclusion

It is okay – occasionally – to do all your workouts on your weekend, but I wouldn’t make it a habit. Especially if you want the other benefits of regular exercise, including improving performance, reducing the risks of lifestyle diseases, maintaining muscle mass, improving bone density, and more.

Why Exercise? 3 Great Reasons to Stay Active

Regardless of why you exercise, a little bit is better than none, and more is almost always better.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla

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