If you only have five or 10 minutes to squeeze in some strength training, you might think it’s not enough to generate results and really enhance your fitness. You might be surprised by new research, which shows there might be meaning and truth behind the old adage “any number of minutes is better than zero minutes”. Even after a short 10 or 15-minute bodyweight workout or some light yoga, I feel a sense of pride, and I honestly feel better mentally and physically as I continue on with my day.
Recently, researchers explored how strength training for a matter of minutes yields results over time. Let’s look at the new research.
The study
In a recent study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers explored how a four-week bodyweight exercise program of just five minutes a day impacted physical fitness, body composition, and physical and mental health in sedentary adults. During the study, four men and 18 women between the ages of 32 and 69 performed 10 reps of the following exercises:
- Chair squat
- Wall press-up
- Chair recline
- Heel drop (calf raise)
The chair recline is like a sit-up, but it’s performed seated in a chair with less range of motion. The healthy but sedentary adult participants performed the moves at a set, strict pace, focusing on elongating the eccentric or lowering phase of each rep for five seconds while completing the concentric or lifting phase of each rep in about one second. For example, for the chair squat, participants would sit down in the chair at a slower pace of about five seconds and stand up as they normally would in roughly one second.
Participants chose the time they performed the exercises as well as whether they wanted to spread the moves throughout the day or perform them all together.
Advanced variations
Participants were told to move on to a more challenging variation of each exercise once they could finish 10 reps with an RPE score of five or less for two days in a row. With the RPE or rate of perceived exertion, participants provide a score out of 10 based on how difficult an exercise feels at that time.
The advanced variations were as follows:
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 with legs straight
- Sit-up
Heel drop
- Heel drop overstretch
- One-leg heel drop overstretch
Taking measurements
Before and after the study intervention, researchers assessed the following:
- Isometric mid-thigh pull
- Handgrip strength
- Push-up and sit-up endurance
- Sit-and-reach flexibility
- Three-minute step test
- Squat jump
- Countermovement jump
- Body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
- Blood-based health markers
- Mental wellbeing via a survey and subjective vitality scale.
The results
The researchers found that just a short daily bodyweight workout yields impressive benefits and significantly improves overall fitness. The four-week study didn’t yield changes in body composition, resting heart rate, blood pressure, or certain other blood markers. However, participants experienced significant improvements in push-up and sit-up endurance, sit-and-reach flexibility, and mental health scores. The heart rate for the three-minute step test also decreased.
The takeaway
Working out for longer durations or several more weeks could likely continue to improve other measurements taken in the study. While it’s a small study, the takeaway is that just five minutes of bodyweight strength training a day for just four weeks can make a big difference to your physical fitness and mental health. If a small daily dose is all you have time for, it’s definitely worth powering through those push-ups and squats for your wellness and flexibility.
