Research shows it's how often not how much

Perth - We all know exercise is important, but is it better to do a little every day, or a lot a few times a week?

New research indicates a little bit of daily activity is more beneficial than longer periods of exercise spread out across the week -- and happily, it also suggests you don't have to put in a mountain of work every day.

This latest study by the Edith Cowan University in Peth indicates a little bit of daily activity could well be the most beneficial approach, at least for muscle strength.

And happily, it also suggests you don't have to put in a mountain of work every day.

In collaboration with Niigata University and Nishi Kyushu University in Japan, the four-week training study had three groups of participants performing an arm resistance exercise and changes in muscle strength and muscle thickness were measured and compared.

Importantly, the increase in muscle strength by the participants was similar to the group in a previous study that performed only one three-second maximal eccentric contraction per day for five days a week for four weeks.

ECU Exercise and Sports Science Professor Ken Nosaka said these studies continue to suggest very manageable amounts of exercise done regularly can have a real effect on people's strength.

While the study required participants to exert maximum effort, early findings from current, ongoing research indicated similar results could be achieved without needing to push as hard as possible.

Muscle strength is important to health. This could help prevent a decrease in muscle mass and strength with ageing.

A decrease in muscle mass is a cause of many chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, dementia, plus musculoskeletal problems such as osteoporosis."

It is not yet known precisely why the body responds better to resistance exercises with eccentric contractions in smaller doses rather than bigger loads less frequently.

Professor Nosaka says it may relate to how often the brain is asked to make a muscle perform in a particular manner. However, he stressed it was also important to include rest in an exercise regimen.

Muscles need rest to improve their strength and their muscle mass, but muscles appear to like to be stimulated more frequently.

Australian guidelines indicate adults should try to be active every day and perform 2.5-5 hours of moderate physical activity per week.

Professor Nosaka said there needed to be more emphasis on the importance of making exercise a daily activity, rather than hitting a weekly minute goal.

This research, together with our previous study, suggests the importance of accumulating a small amount of exercise a week, than just spending hours exercising once a week.

Greater effects by performing a small number of eccentric contractions daily than a larger number of them once a week was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.