Lift weights five days a week to get stronger, but push hard once a week to get big muscles –

When it comes to getting stronger, how often you train is more important than how hard you work.

One study found that people saw greater gains in muscle strength if they spread out their workouts over a week rather than cramming them into one day.

The two groups did exactly the same number of bicep curls as the heaviest dumbbell they could do, once every five days and once a day.

Those who trained with weights most often saw their muscle strength increase by about 10 percent in four weeks.

The debilitated group gained strength once a week, while their muscle thickness increased by a third.

Lead researcher Professor Ken Nosaka, director of exercise and sports sciences at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, said: “People think they should do a long resistance workout in the gym, but that’s not the case. .

“It’s enough to slowly lower a heavy dumbbell once or six times a day.”

Researchers recruited 36 volunteer students in their early twenties from Niigata University in Japan.

They were divided into three groups and instructed to perform “maximum voluntary eccentric biceps contractions” with their favorite arm.

The arm resistance exercise consisted of lowering the bar as heavily as possible into a bicep curl.

They did this while strapped to a special chair that measured the strength of each muscle used for the exercise.

One group did six contractions five days a week, the other group did 30 repetitions once a week, and the third group did six contractions once a week.

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

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

Those who did 30 reps in one day saw no change in muscle strength, but their muscle thickness increased by 5.8%.

Those who performed six contractions once a week did not see any changes in muscle size or thickness.

But those who cascaded their activity saw muscle strength increased by 10 percent and muscle size increased by 4.4 percent.

There has been some debate over the best way to exercise for those who want to gain muscle than for those who want to be stronger.

Researchers still don’t know why small doses of resistance exercise are more effective than less often.

They said it might have to do with how often the brain is asked to do muscle exercises.

Improvements in muscle strength early in resistance training have been associated with better coordination in repetition of movements over time.

Therefore, the team suggests that those who exercise less frequently may not do the exercise as well.

Professor Nosaka said that while participants used the heaviest weight they could in the study, separate studies suggest that people can become equally strong without going any further.

“We only used the biceps curl exercise in this study, but we think it will apply to other muscles as well, at least to some extent.

‘Muscle strength is important to our health. This can help prevent the decline in muscle mass and strength with age.

“Decreased muscle mass is the cause of many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, musculoskeletal problems such as dementia and osteoporosis.”

Current national training guidelines in the UK, US and Australia specify the number of minutes people should exercise per week. British and Americans are recommended to do 150 minutes per week, while Australians are recommended to do 150 to 300 minutes.

Researchers advocated greater focus on daily activities.

Professor Nosaka said, “If you go to the gym once a week, it won’t be as effective as doing some exercise at home every day.

“This research, along with our previous work, highlights the importance of getting a small amount of exercise per week rather than working out for hours once a week.

“We need to know that every muscle contraction counts, and the regularity you do them with is what counts.”

The team stressed the importance of rest days, however, because muscle changes occur afterward.

Professor Nosaka said, “If someone could somehow train 24 hours a day, there would really be no improvement.

“Muscles need rest to increase their strength and muscle mass, but the muscles seem to want to be stimulated more often.”

And if someone is unable to exercise for days or weeks, for example, due to illness, it is “meaningless” to “fix” it with extra sessions.

Researchers from Nishi Kyushu University in Japan also contributed to the study.