3 Seconds to Strength

In this week's Rundown, a three second bicep curl improves strength, a smartwatch monitors cortisol levels and a fitness influencer faces the attorney general of Texas.

Biceps in 3. According to a new study, lifting weights for three seconds a day can have a positive impact on strength. Researchers at Edith Cowan University in Australia, and Niigata University of Health and Welfare in Japan had 39 university students perform either an isometric bicep curl (holding a dumbbell at a 90 degree angle), a concentric curl (a dumbbell is raised toward the shoulder) or an eccentric bicep curl (a dumbbell is lowered below the hips) at maximum effort for three seconds per day, five days per week for four weeks.

The researchers measured the maximum voluntary contraction strength of the students’ muscles before and after the four-week timeframe and found that all the groups showed some improvement, with the eccentric group doing the best. Their muscle strength improved by 11.5 percent. The scientists say the findings are an important step in understanding how to prevent the loss of muscle mass and strength as we age and if a similar outcome could be repeated in other muscle groups, it could lead to a more efficient way to work the entire body.

Stress/Sweat. A UCLA team has developed a smartwatch device that assesses cortisol levels in sweat. When the human body responds to stress, it produces the hormone cortisol, which has traditionally been measured through blood samples. The new technology could allow users to read cortisol levels non-invasively and in real time, so that they can monitor changes in their personal patterns. Read the study.

It works like this: A strip of thin adhesive film collects tiny amounts of sweat, measurable in millionths of a liter. An attached sensor detects cortisol using engineered strands of DNA, called aptamers. A cortisol molecule will fit into each aptamer like a key fits a lock. The aptamer then changes shape so that it alters electric fields at the surface of a transistor. A microprocessor examines the alterations to determine the user’s current cortisol levels, which are displayed on the watch’s screen.

For the study’s co-author, Sam Emaminejad, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, the technology behind the watch is part of a larger vision for personal health monitoring. His lab develops wearable devices that track the levels of certain molecules related to specific health measures. Emaminejad believes that we are “entering the era of point-of-person monitoring, where instead of going to a doctor to get checked out, the doctor is basically always with us. The data are collected, analyzed and provided right on the body, giving us real-time feedback to improve our health and well-being.”

Fitness Influencer Faces Lawsuit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against social media influencer Brittany Dawn, alleging she engaged in “deceptive acts” by misleading “thousands of consumers with the promise of personalized nutritional guidance and individualized fitness coaching.” Dawn, who has more than 954,000 followers on TikTok and over 460,000 on Instagram, started selling nutrition and and fitness plans in 2014 ranging from $45 to $300. Almost all of the plans promised personalized diets and workouts based on a customer’s needs, which would be adjusted after one-on-one consultations.

Dawn allegedly stopped responding to some clients who had purchased the individualized plans and to others who had specific questions, she would allegedly answer with generic statements including: “You’re killing it!” and “You’ve got this babe!” In February 2019, Dawn issued an apology on her YouTube channel and spoke on “Good Morning America.” Since the apology, she has become a Christianity influencer and now offers retreats costing $125.