Me at 18 and 58BUT
Skeletal muscle serves us in several ways. Locomotion, temp control, defense, proprioception and hormonal. I’ll speak of the latter as this seems to be where my conversation goes to when debating my resistant-to-resistance exercise clients/patients. Guys have the luxury of workin out in High school in the weight room as the coach (at least in the 80’s) would be able to cut the animals loose that didnt need extra attention. (Like a trainer chewing up purchased training time by having client on a bike for 10 minutes!!! Not at The Endorphine Effect!!!) If you didnt learn weight lifting movements with a coach or friend, then the likelihood is you may have picked it up on a youtube video but its not the same!!! Case in point my client last week had a frozen shoulder and the arc of motion movements I was planning for her wouldn’t work so on the fly I had to modify for her to embrace her limitations while empowering her to overcome the restrictions. One size does not fit all in exercise or food or medicines.
The lowest hanging fruit in designing a lifestyle change for someone is to consider what held them back last time and what resonates with them now. I’m a tough coach though, if something didn't serve before…(wasnt sustainable) then WE WILL NOT EMBARK ON THE SAME TRAIL AGAIN FOR FEAR OF ENDING UP AT THE SAME DESTINATION! So the catch phrase “I know what to do I just have to do it” doesnt sit well with me as if “IT” is your pre-ordained recipe, then you miraculously would be able to maintain “IT” effortlessly without thinking twice.
Granted there are other variables that block successful maintenance of ritual lifestyle change like
Physical disability
Illness
Pandemics
Mental mood disruption
Age related disease
Care giver status
BUT that is why a plan should be personally designed by someone who is experienced with constructing templates (and I feel someone who knows disease pathophysiology). One doesnt have to be a physician but you should know human biology, physiology and behavior.
So how does this fit into longevity? Cool data exists linking longevity with jumping height and speed of getting up from the ground. The blue zones showed that mobility also was a common thread with the 5 zones of the Earth where higher concentrations of centenarians exist. Mobility in my opinion translates to independence (in addition to a few other things like intact memory-ALSO RESPONSIVE TO EXERCISE!) So the usual knee jerk reaction for folks going to their wellness exam at 40-50yrs of age is “I better start exercising” then the usual next step is “jogging”. (That word-I always think of Sylvester Stallone running in south philly with converse high tops and grey sweats) which is fine for entry level but a 40-50yr old with extra weight and no experience in cross country or track? ASKING FOR KNEE PAIN! Yes there is a proper way to run and its not innate. (Especially with a BMI > 27) Again a coach can evaluate gait and make suggestions turn knees out, keep arms low, dont swing to wide, watch heel whip…. So if all these measures are important for something as easy as running….what’s a newbie to do with a multitude of equipment pieces weights bands position machines for the desire to look like “my 20’s”.
1st commit to change
2nd plan to invest time and money (if you say you cant afford it…start calculating sick time wages lost, copays for prescription medicine and just calculate how much you would pay to not feel lousy anymore
3rd have a reliable team to guide you and rescue you (this can be a combination of doctors trainer counselors nutritionist family members teachers you tubers.
4th plan to fail
5th plan to get back up (I say chunk it up to bite sized “trails” to make it more doable and get smaller but more frequent dopamine rewards by accomplishing smaller goals than 1 huge goal of loosing 1000 lbs in 1month.
Resistance hurts and learning new things is annoying but the endorphine release/serotonin high/dopamine reward are all coming your way! My last client said she felt tingling to her back after we were finished the training session….my doctor hat said I better worry about a pinched nerve. She said “…no I meant the tingling of an orgasm!!!” This was a 70+ year old and just goes to show you, never too old to get muscle to give you a youthful feel again!
No Train / No Gain (no orgasm feeling!? LOL)
=DrRic
