Strength Growing (aka Training) is the real deal & key to longevity!
Imagine this: You just got home from the store, after spending an hour walking up/down the aisles and collecting your households 2-week supply of groceries and now you need to bring them into the house. How do you approach it? Do you a) take one bag at a time because you feel a slight pull when you try to carry more than one, b) take one bag at a time because that is how you’ve always done it, c) take 2-3 bags at a time but regret doing it later because you think you moved in a weird way with them and wonder if you hurt yourself, d) have your kids and/or family do it for you, or e) take as many bags as your arms will allow so you make the fewest trips back and forth.
Really, there is no correct “better” answer. I pose it as an exercise in what your perception of your strength is. This is also an example that whether you are “training” for life or not, these muscle challenges are encountered by all modern humans beings. What I see as the most determining factor in your method for grocery transportation… your bodies strength. How strong you believe your muscles to be.
If you stop and think about about how we humans engage with day to day life…. Strength is the foundation of our existence!
Technically it’s the muscles that have the strength which are the foundation of our existence. They open our eyes, they move our lips, they lift our arms and tap our toes. It takes 43 muscles just to smile! Muscles get us walking from here to there and picking up this or that! It’s quite amazing how crucial our muscles are for our everyday being. And, I know you know this but did you know that muscles can only do 3 things: Grow, stay the same, or shrink. The ole Use ‘em or lose ‘em thing. The more we use and exert our muscles the more they can maintain their form and function. If we put stress on them that is a opportunity for them to grow and become stronger. If we go about our days hardly engaging them…. they will decline and fade.
So I’ve set the stage of understanding that these muscles are needed and incredible … Lets start with the Good. How to Grow Muscles:
Strength Training is the act of engaging your muscles, under tension/weight (metabolic stress), to promote hypertrophy (repair-growth). Sounds so scientific but its not, it’s our basic human function. We were created to move, build, hunt, run, climb, dance and so much of our daily interactions just are not any of these things. Move from one place to another yeah but not all day like our ancestors. Building shelters and fires, tools, blankets, families and communities. Chasing a meal for miles at a time then bringing the animal back as a feast to share with our tribe. Our DNA wants and needs us to be pushing and pulling, squatting and lunging,
Before we get to far I hear you… “Mar I go to the gym, I workout.” But I wonder how much of your time are you dedicating to lifting something heavy? Doing something that is a real challenge? Pushing your muscle to the point it will fail? …. Oh? Now we are getting somewhere.
As I was researching when the best time of day is to workout (the answer) I happened upon many “Health Organizations” recommendations for “regular” physical activity. They say humans should;
Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing.
Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Aim to do a single set of each exercise using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. Strength training can include use of weight machines, your own body weight, heavy bags, resistance tubing or resistance paddles in the water, or activities such as rock climbing.
Insert Marion and her new role as a group fitness instructor teaching Total body strength classes 2-3 times a week at the Saratoga Regional YMCA. Now I’m not sharing this as a shameless plug so you can come to my class (which I’d love!!!) but more I am sharing this because I see the need for my community and I am willing to offer a solution to have this need/minimum met.
Why? Why Strength Training?
More and more research studies are being published that confirm the positive health benefits of engaging in regular strength training and there is a growing awareness of the importance of skeletal muscle in many physiological and disease processes, including the influence of aging on muscle wasting (2, 19, 20,21, 27, 30, 34) and the anabolic effects of physical training on muscle size (19, 36, 41):
Increased Muscle Mass (Inactive adults experience a 3% to 8% loss of muscle mass per decade [source])c
Improved physical performance, movement control, walking speed, functional independence,
Improved cognitive abilities, and self-esteem.
Assist the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes by decreasing visceral fat, reducing HbA1c, increasing the density of glucose transporter type 4, and improving insulin sensitivity.
Enhanced cardiovascular health by reducing resting blood pressure, decreasing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Promotes bone development, with studies showing 1% to 3% increase in bone mineral density.
But Why? Our skeletal muscles are the biggest organs in our bodies! If we are not using them, we are losing the battle of optimization. For reference, the normal range of body mass per/ages 20-39: 75-89 % for men, 63-75.5 % for women. Ages 40-59: 73-86 % men, 62-73.5 % for women[s]. There is a relative (%) muscle mass decreased starting in the third decade, a noticeable decrease in absolute SM mass was not observed until the end of the fifth decade with up to 50% of mass being lost by the 8th decade of life [1]. Just learned that this process even has a name, sarcopenia[s].
Again why does this matter? As stated above, skeletal muscles play a diverse and crucial physical and metabolic roles in humans. To dive deeper, the pathological changes to this important metabolically active tissue can have profound consequences. For example, as an organ it produces hormones, specifically myokines which act in autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine functions [s][s]). (note: the most important myokine being interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-15, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), and Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) which. hello those names alone tells me their importance. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Leukemia inhibitory factor… sounds like you’d want them for your brain to function optimally). The main function of myokines are to protect muscle functionality and to enhance rebuilding itself. They (muscle satellite cells) are activated in response to stress of either heavy muscle use such as with weight-bearing activities or through traumatic events such as injury [10]. This stress begins the process of skeletal muscle repair and regeneration. Simply put, when you use your muscles it allows your muscles to move more efficiently, smoothly and allows them to grow/build.
We also know, the higher the muscle mass, the higher your resting basal metabolic rate. And having a higher BMR, though not important to my discussion here, provides a higher calorie burn rate. There is a myokine, muscle-derived IL-6 that plays a role in in metabolism (13) which increases up to 100-fold in the circulation during physical exercise[s].
When you work your muscles you are allowing for more optimization of nutrients…. well, actually the needs of quality nutrition are higher when you are exercising. When your work or tear a muscle you body will prioritize the repair and absorb more nutrients to get that muscle back better than before. More than just macro-nutrients (protein for amino acids) but micro-nutrients are necessary to be the cofactors for regeneration especially that of vitamin D. Studies confirm it Vita D can regulate maintenance of muscle satellite cell integrity[s].
You don’t want to lose ‘em
Physiological and morphological changes in skeletal muscle with advancing age are characterized by an overall declines in size and number of skeletal muscle fibers and a marked infiltration of fibrous and adipose tissue into the skeletal muscle [9]. You know ribeye steaks how the meat is nicely marbled with fat and how tender and delicious it makes the steak? Well thats what happens inside your body with age and limited muscle usage. Muscle fibers become replaced with adipose tissue (fat) pockets. Good for a cow that you’re going to eat but terrible for a human that wants to bring some groceries into the house quickly because it’s raining outside.
Another report looked deeper into this fatty infiltration of skeletal muscle (called myosteatosis), this is now recognized as an important component of aging and frailty (21–26). Lipid accumulation in muscles of the lower limb is also associated with increased fracture risk in the elderly (27).
And when it goes bad, things just get worse…
Looking at the accumulation of lipid within myofibers themselves, known as intramuscular fat or intramyocellular (IMC) lipid (28–30). Accumulation of IMC lipid is now known to be associated with insulin insensitivity, inflammation, and functional deficits in skeletal muscle [s] Accumulation of the sphingolipid ceramide appears to have a particularly detrimental effect on skeletal muscle function (30). Recent data also suggest that the lipid metabolites diacylglycerols (DAG) are responsible for mediating insulin resistance in skeletal muscle through disrupting the insulin signaling pathway (31).
Wrap it Up:
Okay, I’m not sure what else to say besides I think the argument for prioritizing strength building/training is pretty clear. Your body wants you to do it! Your body was designed for you to do it. So, take a cue from Nike and Just Do It! Bonus points that when you work your skeletal muscles you also get stronger mentally. Ooo thats a great topic for another post.
Not sure where to start or how to get going…. I encourage you to visit your local gym or sports facility and talk to anyone of the wonderful trainers or program facilitators, they can help get your muscles moving in the right direction. There is tons of free content on the internet too. Simply searching strength training will populate over 959,000,000 results!
Two things to remember with strength training (which I will dive into deeper in later posts)
Proper form is soooooooo important to prevent injury and ensure the most effective use of your time.
You need to choose a weight that is a challenge, something heavier that you’d like. If its too easy its not an effort and wont equate to any stress which promotes the rebuilding.
Focus on the muscles you are trying to target. Where focus goes energy flows applies inside the body as well
Fitness is fun, not punishment. If you’re not having a good time doing it then it wont be sustainable for your life.