The subject line sounds like fiction, but it’s from a real scientific study… and can help you reach more developers with less sweat, too.
The idea of “three second workouts” might remind you of “Eight Minute Abs,” or any of its lesser-numbered competitors:
In a classic scene (which includes one little swear at the end, sorry) from There’s Something About Mary, Ben Stiller picks up a hitchhiker with a fitness business plan. But he can’t handle the scrutiny that others could choose a lower number.
Seven minute abs! Not six, I said seven. Who works out in six minutes? You won’t even get your heart going!
Wouldn’t the hitchhiker be surprised to know that, 25 years later, researchers got it down from seven minutes to three seconds.
According to a Japanese study, one daily bicep curl will grow your muscles. Participants performed a simple arm exercise for four weeks, spending just three seconds a day, five days a week. At the end of that time, they were up to 10% stronger.
(If you’re working on getting back to the gym like me, the best results came from the “eccentric” exercise, lowering the weight slowly from the top position and lengthening the muscle)
Conventional wisdom suggests a workout should be at least 20 minutes and likely closer to an hour.
This study, on the other hand, suggests that you can see significant gains if you just do something. Even one rep.
As you think about all the projects you could start to reach developers, it can be overwhelming. And that might be on top of what you know you should be doing, if only you had a larger team or more budget.
What the fitness research suggests is:
- Smaller activities can add up to better results
- The right activities will amplify those results
You might not be able to do the 5 a.m. Crossfit tire-flipping, sandbag-carrying version.
But you do the one bicep curl variant.
You can always make a small change to improve your developer experience and content. Maybe change a single headline or add a clear “next step” to a popular tutorial.
It’s the little things that developers appreciate anyway. And they add up. 💪