Exercise shortcut to better strength

Nurses and midwives are busy people, and fitting in exercise on top of shift work can be challenging. Often we are tired, lack energy, and are time poor, which can make it difficult to find the time and motivation to exercise.  

Counting steps – is not enough

Nurses and midwives walk a lot at work – probably kilometres in a 12-hour shift. But just walking a lot of steps is not good enough to strengthen muscles, and strengthening muscles is important to meet the demands of the job and reduce fatigue and the risk of injury.

Ken Nosaka, an exercise and sports scientist at Edith Cowan University was part of a study that looked at short bouts of exercise and its effect on health. It found that short amounts of exercise is beneficial for our health, which suits nurses and midwives, who don’t have a lot of time.  

Include these exercises in your day

It is important to know that every muscle contraction counts, and every purposeful movement is meaningful for the body.

Try these simple ‘eccentric’ exercises to strengthen muscles:

1. Lower yourself into a chair slowly – repeat
2. Recline back slowly (sit on front of chair) – repeat
3. Heel drop and raise
4. Push up on the wall

Find out more about how to do these 4 exercises and the science behind them: The Conversation: …a few minutes a day can improve your muscle strength

Short bouts of exercise, regularly

Ken tells us that exercising the muscles for a small amount of time each day is better for muscle strength than doing only one longer exercise session a week. 

“We have proposed 4 simple ‘eccentric exercises’ that can be performed without any equipment at any time of the day. It takes only a minute or 2 to perform each exercise, and the 4 exercises can be spread over a day.

“We have found that the 4 exercises are effective for increasing muscle strength, flexibility, aerobic capacity, and mental health.” 

The study found that lowering a heavy weight down (called “eccentric” exercise) for 3 seconds once a day at maximal effort for 5 days a week over 4 weeks saw an increase muscle strength by 10%. 

References

• Effect of daily 3-s maximum voluntary isometric, concentric, or eccentric contraction on elbow flexor strength, by S. Sato, 2022, Journal of Medicine & Sports Science.