How To Build Bigger Biceps: A little exercise every day will improve your muscles more than a big one a week.

Joondalup, Australia — Is quantity over quality the answer to building muscle?

Researchers in Australia and Japan found that doing just a few bicep curls each day was actually better for five days a week than doing dozens of curls continuously with a longer exercise routine once a week. have been found to improve muscle strength. What’s more, they found that people don’t even need to exercise at full capacity to achieve these results.

During the study, the team had two groups of volunteers perform a “maximal voluntary eccentric biceps contraction” for four weeks and measured their strength and muscle thickness. An eccentric contraction is a lengthening of the muscle. For the biceps, lower a heavy dumbbell to stretch the muscle.

One group did this 6 times a day, 5 days a week (6 x 5). The other group completed all 30 contractions once a week (30×1) in one day. The researchers also had a third group, as a control, where he had six labors once a week.

The results show that the 30×1 group showed no increase in strength over 4 weeks. However, muscle thickness (a measure of muscle size) he increased by 5.8%. In the control group, who contracted six times a week, no change in muscle strength or thickness was observed.

On the other hand, the 6×5 group is muscle strength increase increased by more than 10% and experienced a similar increase in muscle thickness as the 30×1 group.

Even 3 seconds of exercise is enough for larger muscles.

Interestingly, the team found similar results were seen in the 6×5 group as in previous studies in which participants increased strength. One 3-second biceps curl every day.

Ken Nosaka, a professor at Edith Cowan University, said these studies A very manageable amount of exercise Regularly to produce noticeable improvements in strength.

“People think they have to do long sessions of strength training at the gym, but that’s not the case,” says Nosaka. university liberation“Slowly lowering heavy dumbbells once or six times a day is enough.”

Additionally, Nosaka reports that the most recent study found that you don’t need to put in the utmost effort to achieve these results.

“Although we used only biceps exercises in this study, we believe this applies to other muscles, at least to some extent,” the researchers add. is important for the health of your body, which helps prevent age-related loss of muscle mass and strength. loss of muscle mass It contributes to many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, dementia, and musculoskeletal problems such as osteoporosis. ”

rest days are still ok

A new study finds that exercising regularly is a good thing, but the study’s authors say it’s just as important to take breaks to build muscle.

“In this study, the 6×5 group rested two days a week,” explains Professor Nosaka.

“Muscular adaptation occurs when we are restingsomeone can train 24 hours a day, and not really improve at all. Muscles need rest to improve strength and muscle mass, but they seem to prefer to be stimulated more often.

The team also found that people shouldn’t be allowed to “catch up” with exercise if they’ve been away from the gym for a while.

“If someone is sick and can’t exercise for a week, that’s fine, but we recommend returning to your normal exercise routine when you feel better.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends: 150 minutes for adults Weekly moderate-intensity physical activity. But Nosaka’s team argues that prioritization is more important. daily physical activity Rather than target specific minute marks.

“Going to the gym once a week is not as effective as doing a little exercise at home every day,” concludes Nosaka.

“This study, combined with our previous research, suggests the importance of accumulating small amounts of exercise per week rather than exercising once a week for many hours. are important, and what matters is how regularly you perform them.

The survey results are Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.