Part Of Having A Great Life Is Learning

Strength is critical as we age. It’s not just a source of strength. Muscle is an organ with multiple functions. Without strength and good muscle health, our bodies struggle to function properly. And about preserving the quality of your last decades of life. The greater your muscle mass, the lower your risk of death. That’s where the focus should be. Is a focus on strength still appropriate as we age? Medicine is there after a bad fall to repair injuries. Yet studies have identified the segment of the population that is at high risk for falls. To date, an important opportunity for primary prevention is largely being missed. There are important prevention opportunities. A big part of having a great life is learning to dodge bullets.

Light Of The Life

An understanding of all of this is critical to your personal health. But first you need to better understand exactly how your muscles work. StrongPath training is all about being proactive. A big part of having a great life is learning to dodge bullets. Muscles that do not get exercised waste away. To maintain overall health, all major muscle groups must be adequately exercised. Not all muscles cells are alike. They typically fire asynchronously.9 This allows some to work while others rest, so they act like a tag team, providing each other relief while work continues at an even pace. Their job is to help you do hard things that take a lot of force in a short time, such as picking up something heavy, bounding up a flight of stairs, lifting yourself off the floor, or catching your balance when you stumble so you do not fall. When they do get activated, they begin synchronously firing with sudden force. At high levels of exertion, they exhaust in around 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

The Sweetest Sound

This is why sprint events are short. You can make great gains in strength with a workout program that effectively engages them as well without the need to spend a lot of extra time in the gym. Muscles work as a system. Any part of your body that is smaller and weaker in proportion to other parts will be subject to injury. From the beginning, work with the same weight on each side of your body. You will likely begin with one side being stronger than the other. Progress by increasing weight only as both sides can handle the challenge. It is a serious error to get into a habitual routine that exercises the same few muscles on each occasion. Notice too that many people habitually go to the same few machines they frequent and do the same things. For as long as you have seen them, they have not advanced or grown stronger, and their bodies have not significantly changed over time. Just doing something, even something strenuous, does not make for a good lifelong StrongPath program. Just doing something, even something strenuous, does not make for a good lifelong StrongPath program.

Such A Rush

To stay on track, you need to challenge all your muscles. Unused muscles waste away. To achieve the maximum benefit on the StrongPath, you will have to step outside of your comfort zone and the types of repetitive activities you have always done and know you are good at and instead challenge yourself to work on those areas that are weaker. You will need to establish new patterns of movement to avoid muscular atrophy and to ensure overall health and disease prevention. But first, let’s look at Lynne, our next case study participant, and see how she was able to embrace the StrongPath and reverse the effects that excess weight and sarcopenia were having on her life. She is a professional singer, entertainer, and writer. She once lost 100 pounds and then gained them all back. She was mortified by her failure. Her weight became such a burden, she only left home to work. Otherwise, she stayed in and watched television. Lynne said her weight was so bad that she was hobbling around like a grandma. To compound matters, she also has osteoarthritis and a bad left knee. Lynne was starting from a much different place than many of the other test subjects. She’d been a member of the spa at the Trump International Hotel and Tower since it opened, but along with knee and back pain, she lacked motivation, so she struggled. She started the test training with a smile, but also with some hesitation. She knew when she came in that the first couple of sessions would be a challenge for her. She had the motivation of her friends and Fred, but she also knew her health and mobility were on the line. After initial measurements of weight, body fat, strength, flexibility, and cardio, which all showed her to be on the negative side of the scale, Fred and Lynne’s trainer knew that any improvement for Lynne would be a great improvement and a movement toward a much healthier lifestyle. Her trainer told her that the first month would be the toughest, as she would be feeling the workouts. He also shared that there would be aches, pains, and tightness, but that she’d sleep better. Lynne knew that while training would be tough, it was going to increase her metabolism and help stabilize her, because she would be using smaller muscles, and as a result of that, she would have less injury and pain. She and her trainer talked about her diet, and she worked with a nutritional expert. The importance of the timing of meals, what to eat, what to stay away from, and what to do to counter bouts of inactivity or while performing in shows. Lynne couldn’t get to the gym, or she slipped up on her diet, they had contingencies. She worked out at home and worked on bettering her other meals. She drank a lot of water and kept moving. Her trainer would get feedback from her and keep her entertained as they progressed. She has got homework assignments. The journey has now changed.