Fitness Training News

A week or so ago I wrote about why it's important to do some sort of strength and core conditioning. You learned a little about me and why I feel so strongly about lifting weights and doing resistance training. Of course, you’ll check in with your physician to make sure lifting is medically OK for you to do. I would also recommend you get a good Trainer or Physical Therapist to instruct you with good form and proper technique.

The more we continuously do resistance training or lift weights, the more we

can slow down and  reverse the decline of muscle mass on our bodies. We can also help

develop better bone density or bone mass. You need resistance on all of your muscle

groups. There is also research that shows that lifting weights and doing resistance training can actually improve mood swings (think Manopause, ladies), help arthritis, improve past

injuries, help with current broken bones (think ski accidents, bike falls, and simple every

day silly injuries).

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends people 40 and over do

strength training exercises at least 2-3 times every week. If you do not continuously work

all of your  muscles to failure/fatigue you will not get them to adapt to building muscle.

This means if you go to the gym from December to February, next year when you come

back to the gym in December, you are starting over. Over 40, you simply do not have this

valuable time to waste. The older we get, the easier it is to lose our muscle.

Guess what? It’s never too late to start.  There are studies of elderly men and women who were given a program of lifting weights three times per week for a 10 week period. It was stated that they increased their strength by 113%. This means their other activities could be done faster, they could lift more objects, and sustain a more independent lifestyle.

The best exercises are multi joint exercises in order to maximize your time in the gym

and work on those exercises that train the muscle you use in every day activities.  It is

especially important to strengthen your deep mid-section muscles. We call this your

“core”. You use these muscles for everything,, not just your sports activities. Try

standing up and put on your socks and shoes. Now, bend over and pick up your tennis

bag.  How about bend over your bathtub to clean the sides. You have used your core

muscles for these activities. If you cannot put on your shoes and socks while standing-

well, better get into that gym and do some core exercises, and strength training.

Fitness Ball Pushups.

Do not use a weight that is too light.  You want to feel mild discomfort in your muscles

the day after your workout. I mean mild. It takes about 24-48 hours for the muscle to go

through a process  of repairing and then adaptation.  You only want a small amount of

“micro-tearing” or mild muscle damage to occur.  A mild breakdown of muscle protein

stimulates the rebuilding process in your muscles. This is how the muscle adapts for each

new period of training or each new load of weight. You do not want to feel a lot of pain

for several days because this will be the result of too much muscle damage that  will take

several days or weeks to recover from. Go about 48 hours between workouts of  each

muscle group in order to have full recovery of the muscle fibers.

At all times you must maintain proper form when weight lifting or doing any type of

resistance training. Do not use momentum to lift or lower a weight. Do not bounce and

throw your weights or body around. This is poor form and can cause injury.  You must

maintain good posture, and muscle control. 

Now let’s get started for a better and healthier life.

              STRENGTH TRAINING FOR MEN AND WOMEN OVER 40.  Part one.

Strength training of some sort has improved my life by giving me more strength,  preventing injury, keeping me mentally focused, and giving me the extra energy to do all of the activities- skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and yes, cycling.  A life long regimen of strength training improved my 20 year racing career and helped make it possible to race at such a high level of competition(pro field) into my 40s.  Lifting weights and using weight machines has, especially, helped me keep lean and fit as I head  into my 50s.  There's not a good reason to skip strength training as part of your weekly activities after you have been cleared by your health care professional.

It’s not enough to do aerobic activities without adding in several weekly sessions of strength training, (science and research proves this). You need to specifically work muscle to build muscle. Although, it is important to have cardiovascular activities in our lives, strength training and resistance exercises are likely more important. 

Through some sort of resistance training or training in a weight room, we (men and women) can increase strength per pound of body mass and lean muscle mass. This is called strength-to-weight ratio. The decline in muscle gets worse as we age because we lose the very hormones that help us develop muscle and for women, it's worse. We have to keep working out muscles in order not to lose our muscles. Get into a gym or figure out a way to do resistance workouts at home. Once a week IS NOT ENOUGH! You need to follow a plan 3-4 x per week. You also need to increase your load/resistance systematically each week. Remember: Stress + recovery = adaptation. Once your body gets used to a certain workout, change it. Change the pattern.

First hand learning experiences teach us a lot. Three years ago I was riding my bike when the driver of a large truck hit me. At first I thought it wasn’t “that bad” of an accident. What I didn’t realize was that I had very severe PTSD and something the doctors call poly trauma injuries; injuries from head to toe.  My multiple injuries were not going to heal without multiple surgeries, nor without having been very fit and strong to start with. You see, I had a good amount of muscle on my body from continuous resistance training and not just riding my bike.  It wasn’t just my leg muscles that were fit from riding and hiking and skiing. I used resistance workouts to make my back, arms, shoulders, and deep abdominal muscles strong. I did twisting exercises, lifting, reaching, and more. Through my resistance training I wanted to make sure if I had a fall doing the things I do in my every day aerobic activities,  I would have balance, fitness, and strength to prevent injury. These resistance and strengthening workouts are likely what saved me from life threatening injuries during the accident. It was the discipline of my life-long lifting and sports that gave me the strength and stamina to persevere the aftermath of the trauma and months of healing and rehab. My muscles had memory. They knew how to rebuild. This is why resistance training is a lifelong endeavor.

Use it or lose it:

 Facing multiple surgeries and recoveries in a short amount of time meant a lot of down time from any activities. I knew I would loose a lot of muscle, tendon, and ligament strength, and I would need to know how to rebuild all of what I was going to lose.  Thankfully, it is a big part of what I do in my regular life and I didn’t have to start learning new exercises- I already new how to build strength.

Three years later, I’m convinced, as are my doctors, that I was able to come back, repeatedly,

from so many surgeries because of the muscular fitness and muscle strength I had prior to the accident. Every time I had a surgery, I lost massive amounts of muscle within two-three weeks.   

Quickly loosing muscle mass is a sad fact of getting older not just from a long term lay off.  We lose muscle at a very rapid rate when we don’t continuously use it. The older we get the more we lose muscle and the harder it is to put back on. Starting out with a certain amount of muscle and having muscle memory with help you keep it that much longer.

If you can't go to a gym,  use therapy bands and dumb bells to work out at home.There are many exercises you can do at home.

You may not go through what I went through but we all take falls. We’re active and we need to stay this way, especially making sure we keep our muscles strong.

I'll get another post out about what types of things we can all do both in and out of the gym. Stay tuned and keep up the good work!