Just five minutes a day is enough.
Being advised to do something eccentric every day holds huge appeal to this Back Pager.
But while it was tempting to go down a creative track and imagine the wild and flamboyant things that exercise of an eccentric nature might involve, it took just two seconds of research to find out that eccentric exercise means something quite precise: contracting a muscle while it’s lengthening, such as during the downward part of a bicep curl.
Now Australian researchers say that even if you don’t usually exercise at all, just five minutes a day of a few different bodyweight eccentric exercises is very, very good for you.
The Edith Cowan University and Southern Cross University researchers looked at the effects of a daily five-minute bodyweight eccentric exercise program, measuring changes in physical fitness, body composition and physical and mental health.
They enrolled 24 “healthy but sedentary” participants aged 32 to 69 who did the exercises at home, doing 10 reps each of chair squats, chair reclines, wall push-ups and heel drops every day over four weeks.
The participants showed significant improvements in muscle strength, flexibility, strength endurance, and mental health, “suggesting that even a small amount of daily exercise can provide substantial and detectable benefits in sedentary individuals,” the researchers say in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.
It’s good news for anyone (*cough) who would happily never enter a gym, too.
“This type of exercise is also more accessible to most people, as it makes use of body weight and eliminates the need to go to a gym,” co-lead researcher Professor Ken Nosaka says.
Five minutes is also far quicker than long bouts of aerobic exercise, especially considering 50% of people give up a new exercise program within a few months because they think they don’t have time, the researchers say.
Meanwhile, University of South Australia researchers say any type of exercise boosts cognitive function and memory at any age.
Even low-intensity exercise like walking or yoga helps cognition, they say in their review of 2747 randomised controlled trials published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
“Mind-body” exercises like Tai Chi and yoga have the most significant impact on memory, and even “active” gaming or exergaming – such as Pokémon Go – improve general cognition, they say.
The effects on cognitive function and memory were larger for low to moderate-intensity exercise, and improvements were greater among children and teenagers than adults.
People with ADHD had bigger improvements in executive function compared to the general population, with improved focus and reduced impulsivity.
Lead researcher Dr Ben Singh from UniSA says the benefits were quick, too, “with clear gains within one to three months, highlighting that even small bursts of activity can make a big difference”.
“It also signals that trying out new activities could play a key role in keeping the brain engaged and active.”
Literally any exercise. Of course, the key is still actually doing it.
Send sweaty and eccentric story tips to penny@medicalrepublic.com.au.
