New research reports that a short, daily bodyweight workout can hold impressive benefits for those struggling to find time to exercise
There’s a common misconception that you need to spend an hour in the gym, several times per week, to make a dent on your health and fitness goals. But for most people, this simply isn’t the case.
Instead, any regular activity is likely to have an impact. A recent study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology supports this, finding that a five-minute strength training routine, performed daily for four weeks, led to “significantly improved physical fitness and mental health in sedentary individuals”.
As far as I can see, the routine was nothing groundbreaking either, comprising progressive variations of the bodyweight squat, press-up, sit-up and calf raise. The progressive nature and consistency with which these exercises were performed is where the magic truly lies.
Though the sample size is small, what the study shows is that small amounts of exercise, and strength training in particular, can offer untold perks for beginners. I investigated why this might be the case, and how you can use this information to efficiently further your own health and fitness.
The “healthy but sedentary” participants of this study – four men and 18 women aged between 32 and 69 – performed 10 repetitions of each exercise to a strict tempo. This meant elongating the eccentric (or lowering) phase of each repetition for five seconds, then completing the concentric (or lifting) phase in roughly one second.
For the chair squat, for example, this would involve sitting down slowly over the course of five seconds, then standing up as normal.
“Participants were allowed to choose the time at which they completed the exercises, and the exercises could be performed together or spread throughout the day,” the research adds.
Once participants could complete 10 repetitions of an exercise with an RPE (rate of perceived exertion, or how hard an exercise feels) score of five out of 10 or less for two consecutive days, they were instructed to progress to a more challenging variation of the exercise. These variations were:
- Chair squat > one-leg chair squat > pistol squat
- Wall press-up > one-arm wall press-up > table press-up > knee press-up > press-up
- Chair recline back > chair recline back (legs straight) > sit-up
- Heel drop > heel drop overstretch > one-leg heel drop overstretch
Again, I want to stress that this isn’t a magic formula. It simply plays on tried and trusted strength training principles – progressive overload and a combination of exercises which recruit most major muscle groups – to deliver the stimulus needed for positive changes in people new to this type of exercise.
The main takeaway should be that just a few short minutes of adequately challenging resistance training per day, even without weights, can make a significant difference in sedentary populations.
This article isn’t aimed at people who run marathons for fun or sign up to every Hyrox race going. Instead, it speaks to anyone who wants to improve their health and fitness, but struggles to find the time, energy and motivation to squeeze exercise into their busy lives.
