Resistance Training Part 3
Our Thinking Has Come A Long Way, or Has It?
In part 1 of this 3-part blog I touched on how important resistance training is, especially keeping it up as we age. This concept, unlike what I covered in part 2, the great “AB Machine fallacy”, is more of an under promoted topic rather than a gross misconception.
Slow The Rate of Muscle and Bone Loss With Resistance Training
Osteopenia, which is the loss of bone mass (when the loss is severe it’s know as osteoporosis) and Sarcopenia the loss of muscle tissue, are both part of the natural aging process. As humans, typically we are at our peak around 25 to 30 years of age, then it’s down hill from there! It’s easier to gain fat, harder to put on muscle and gravity becomes force to be reckoned with. The rate that we degrade, particularly losing the bone and muscle mass, can double at some stage after 50.
However, you can take steps to keep this part of the aging process at bay longer, or slow the rate of your muscle & bone loss…. AND the number 1 prescription for this is [insert drum roll] …Resistance Training!
Retain Muscle as You Age
This really is a ‘use it or lose it’ scenario. The good news is, to quote WebMD; research has shown that a program of progressive resistance training exercises can increase protein synthesis rates (this is a good thing for muscle retention), for older adults, in as little as two weeks. And in addition to this, to look after your bones; along with good nutrition, do regular resistance training, as bone forms in response to the stress it endures as you perform resistance exercises.
As it just so happens…the ARC-NRG PushUp delivers a resistance training workout, that can be progressively increased – and it’s low impact to boot!
Get a DEXA Scan for an Accurate Body Composition Analysis
Image from Body Comp
As a side note, if you’re interested in learning more about your own body-composition to understand your true body fat % and your current bone and muscle health, I recommend you get a DEXA scan. It’s a quick, non-invasive, not expensive low-energy X-ray - the gold standard in Body-Comp analysis. You’ll get the most accurate evaluation on your fat, muscle & bone.