Eccentric Exercise Benefits
A five minute eccentric exercise program provided significant benefits to prior inactive adults.
Here’s a great evidence-based idea for a home program for clients who find it difficult to train between sessions. Eccentric bodyweight exercises, for as little as five minutes a day over a four week period, can improve physical fitness and mental health. Researchers from Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, enrolled 22 sedentary and healthy men and women between the ages of 32 to 69 years in an exercise program that included 10 reps each of chair squats, chair reclines, wall push-ups and heel drops with a focus on slow movements while contracting muscles.
“We saw significant improvements in muscle strength, flexibility, strength endurance and mental health, suggesting that even small amounts of daily exercise can provide sustainable and detectable benefits in sedentary individuals,” says study author Ken Nosaka, PhD, Director of Exercise and Sports Science at ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences. “Using five minutes a day as a starting point and building on that, would allow people to see more results. Every muscle contraction counts, but you need at least 10 contractions for each exercise in order to gain some results.”
The study is available in the European Journal of Applied Physiology (2025; doi:10.1007/s00421-025-05757-7).
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
