According to a recent study, just five minutes of eccentric bodyweight exercises every day can significantly benefit both your mental and physical well-being. The study, published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, investigated how short, bodyweight exercises could improve key health indicators such as handgrip strength, flexibility, and overall strength.
The findings suggest that brief sessions of eccentric exercises may offer a practical solution for people who find it challenging to fit longer workout sessions into their busy schedules.
The study, led by Dr Benjamin Kirk and Professor Ken Nosaka in ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences, evaluated the effects of a five-minute-a-day, home-based bodyweight eccentric exercise program on physical fitness, body composition, and both physical and mental health in sedentary individuals.
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Over a four-week period, the participants completed daily exercise consisting of 10 repetitions each of chair squats, chair reclines, wall push-ups, and heel drops, focusing on eccentric muscle lengthening contractions by slowly stretching contracting muscles, such as sitting in a chair slowly, in which the front thigh muscles are lengthened while supporting the body weight.
Physical inactivity is estimated to contribute to some 5.3 million deaths in Australia each year. It is estimated that only 63% of people met the aerobic guidelines for adult physical activity, while only 29% met the muscle-strengthening activity criteria.
Only 19% of Australia’s adult population currently meet both aerobic and physical strength guidelines.
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