Why does strength training matter for longevity?

Age and decrepitude is something we're all fighting against, especially when it comes to health spans. And as soon as you start losing muscle mass as you age not a good sign your metabolism slows down, your energy slows down, your resiliency to illness slows down, Like it's just. It's a slippery slope. So strength training is critical for quality of life long-term, especially as we get older. So thank you, Lisa, for sharing that and busting that myth again. Um I I'd like to have one more question with you today, because obviously we're going to have to have you back to talk more. But if you could leave our listeners with one message to carry with them away from today's conversation, what would you like to leave them with? I would. Instead of making it a sentence, I'm going to give you the three words to focus on. So number one was moderation. That I spoke about.

One thing, one thing I will say about 50 plus as well, because I was thinking was the Peter T or Uber menu. Some of us did no far chest within the last couple of months and they're talking about aging and what suitable exercise wise, and I think you said it very plainly it's use it or lose as you age. The reason you can't jump as fast or run as fast is because you haven't so thank you, can't always, like you know, they're not. They're limited to how much they stop doing things bounce related, strength related. Then yeah, you're going to need to fish, so keep on. Well said. Oh, we're getting to the time. You're already. I'm like holy smokes. I want to buy a quick one. Let me ask you this. I'd like to.

So we're trying to practice some things and they were older guys and they're like your body, doesn't forget. You're going to have to train for the rest of your life and I'm like that's, I love training. So for me that's not a thing, but it's very true. And where they, you're not. You don't have to be a pro athlete and it's even more paramount to the general public, especially as they get older and you have to. If you strength train, you're going to stay lost aging process, both mentally and physically. So don't think that it's something that stuck for professional athletes or things like that. Strength training is paramount for everybody, men and women, and it will elevate your life, it will enhance your life so that you can do the things that you want to do when you want to do. So good and so on point.

Back on almonds like your Adam Vegas poker table and make sure your dinner plate is a carnival of lean meat, seafood or a legume parade. But why increase protein intake? For one, it's satiating, meaning you feel full longer, which is a bonus for weight management. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that participants consuming a higher protein diet reported greater satiating. See, it makes you feel more full longer. Plus, a high protein intake has been linked to improved muscle mass and strength, which is critical as we age to prevent sarcopenia, that's, the loss of muscle mass we're discussing preserving your independence over the years, and that's no small feat. Now let's talk about metabolic health. Did you know your body burns more calories digesting protein than fats or carbohydrates?

According to the brainiacs of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, functional training is like a secret sauce for your muscles. It enhances your strength, coordination, balance, agility. It's not just about looking good in the mirror, although that is a nice sort of byproduct, I guess. It's about being able to move through life with ease and with grace as much grace as one can have while chasing a runaway shopping cart in a parking lot hey, we've all been there, right? It's nice to know that you can do that when we have to, and that's called confidence in your ability. It is wise, isn't it? And let's not forget about the mobility side of things. This isn't just about those flexible yoga gurus on Instagram. Incorporating mobility work into your routine is like giving your body a big juicy hug. It helps prevent injuries, it improves your performance.

But the alternative is there to look at and you, just as I say, look at any long-term care home and it's not a pretty picture for most people in those organizations. So pick the weakest ones and there's a lot to choose from. We've got over 600 muscles in our body and muscles will generally start to atrophy from a functionality perspective within about two weeks. Smaller the muscle groups like I've got osteoarthritis diet okay. In the morning I can't really close my hands effectively. You know, give me 50 minutes of doing movement and so on and I'm good to go. Okay, these hands are strong. You wouldn't be able to bend my wrist without using two hands. You'd have to be forceful. It takes a while to get to that level, but it's possible to do, and the reason I do that is because there's no cure for osteoarthritis that they know of.

Here, certainly in Canada, average life expectancy is 82 years, 79 for a man, 83 for a female. Have you gone into a long term care facility recently and see what an 82 year old looks like? It's not good. There's some rare exceptions, but trust me, there are not always. If you go into your local gym, die or anybody listening goes into the local gym, they'll look around and they'll see there's a lot of fit people. This is incredible. Mankind has a great opportunity down the road. No, it's a microcosm. If a club has 5,000 members and there's 10 clubs in the city, that's 50,000 people. Multiply them at the number of franchise businesses, you'd be lucky, like here in the city of Ottawa, you'd be lucky if you had 100,000 people that were as really super fit. It doesn't work that way.

A study by the Mayo Clinic found that integrating movement into your daily routine, like taking the stairs, walking during meetings or doing short exercise bursts, can significantly boost your overall health and also your longevity. Let me share a personal story. Years and years and years and years and years ago, I used to be all about the gym. I was hitting the weights hard, focusing on my gains, and while I looked fit, something was missing. I realized that outside the gym, I was hitting the weights hard, focusing on my gains, and while I looked fit, something was missing. I realized that outside the gym, my lifestyle wasn't as healthy as it could be. I was sitting too much, not paying attention to my nutrition and neglecting my mental health.

People are obsessed with living forever. Meanwhile we are getting more ailments from poor fitness and lost mobility as we age. Originally published on LinkedIn on 2 February 2017, itself republishing an article written for Fresh Magazine, and reproduced here with light editing only. FIG. 01 FIG. 01 / Use it or lose it, and the losing is quiet. Generally speaking, I seem to be reading more and more about longevity these days. It would seem that people are obsessed with the idea of living forever. And granted, medical science is doing a wonderful job of allowing us to live longer and longer. However, as a whole, we are also experiencing more and more ailments as a result of decrepitude, poor physical fitness and lack of mobility as we age. It is about time for an intervention and a call to help people get back to basics. Envision this.

The adage use it or lose it rings all the truer as we age. Start implementing functional fitness into your lifestyle today to ensure a capable, pain-free future. Written in 2017, and it is the earliest piece in this archive that argues for healthspan over lifespan. That argument is now the whole premise of the coaching. The specific home programs named in the original have been left out because two of them no longer exist. The 2% Solution. Play it here, with the full transcript on the page. Most men over forty who feel exhausted are not sleep deprived. What is actually going on. What held up from my 2016 column, and the part I oversold. The real timeline, and every number from a sixty-day cohort of twenty-three men.

However, if you do not challenge your body and mind by working on your balance and flexibility, proprioception becomes weakened. Your body's flexibility and balance are the keys to your quality of life. Implementing balance training into your fitness program is essential. With proper balance training, you will both improve core strength and increase joint stability and mobility. Joint stability and mobility mean the amount of resistance offered by the muscles, tendons, and tissues that surround a joint. If this resistance is fast and strong, your body can react to the dynamic or unexpected. However, if the muscles, ligaments and supporting structures are weak and slow to activate, joints will move into unnatural positions, resulting in pain and dysfunction.