Resistance Training is the REAL Fountain of Youth!

Forget botox, liposuction, $500 skin creams and the like, the real fountain of youth comes from lifting heavy things on a consistent basis. Before I delve into the many benefits of strength training and how absolutely CRUCIAL it is for everyone, especially women, to regularly incorporate resistance training exercises into their lives I want to also mention some other keys to staying young. If you haven’t already, please go to: RealAge.com and take Dr. Oz’s test to find out your real age.  (My real age was about 3.1 years younger than my biological age. Go me!) You would be surprised at many of the questions (as I was) and what really affects your real age. I know I was docked a few points for not knowing my cholesterol, not eating enough fruits and vegetables and having a recent major “stressful” event in my life. (Job loss). Amongst my other tips for keeping a youthful appearance: drink lots of water (dry skin looks aged); wear SPF 30+ everyday on your face and neck (foundation with SPF – even better!) and do cardio/get your heart rate up and give your heart a good workout as many days of the week as you can.

Okay, now back to resistance training. Wikepedia defines resistance training as:

“a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent). Exercises are isotonic if a body part is moving against the force. Exercises are isometric if a body part is holding still against the force. Resistance exercise is used to develop the strength and size of skeletal muscles. Properly performed, resistance training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being.”

Resistance training can be performed training with dumbbells, barbells, exercise machines, cables, bands, your own bodyweight, milk jugs, soup cans, small pets and children or any other inanimate object that has a weight to it.  You do not need to belong to a gym or have tons of equipment to resistance train.  The goal of resistance training is to make our muscles stronger. Studies show that as we age, beginning as early as our mid-twenties, we can lose muscle mass at the rate of 1-2% of muscle mass per year. That’s about 5-6lbs of muscle per decade after age 25! This can be reversed, however, with a consistent weight training program. Why is this loss of muscle so important? Not only does this SIGNIFICANTLY lower your metabolism but it makes us weaker, flabbier and more prone to osteoporosis.

Resistance training helps us maintain our lean muscle mass. Lean muscle is metabolically active tissue, as is adipose tissue (a.k.a. body fat), however, muscle tissue burns slightly more calories per day than fat tissue. It was thought, until recently that adding a pound of muscle to your body could increase your metabolism by 35-50 calories per day, but it turns out that number was estimated too high.  There is much debate on the subject as to the actual number but recent studies I have read indicate that a pound of bodyfat burns around 2 calories per day and a pound of lean muscle burns around 6 calories per day. Not a huge difference that will make a significant impact, however that does not mean weight training is not important.  Remember, doing cardio only or not exercising at all, you can lose about 5-6 lbs of muscle per decade after 25. By weight training, you avoid that loss plus might gain another pound or two.  Having more lean muscle also increases your EPOC factor (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). EPOC is just a fancy way of saying that your body continues burning calories for a period of time AFTER you’re done exercising. Studies have shown that following a weight training (anearobic) workout your body continues burning calories at a higher rate for a LONGER period of time as compared to a cardio (aerobic) session. Over time, this can really add up to a significant amount of fat loss.

Something AMAZING!

I will be writing a more in depth article on how to set up a resistance training program for beginners but for now I just want to stress the importance of resistance training in the aging process. According to this recent study by Doug McGuff, MD on the effects of resistance training on aging [calling attention to a study published in PLoS ONE showing a reversal of aging in over 500 genes. (Melov S, Tarnopolsky MA, Beckman K, Felkey K, Hubbard A (2007) Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal Muscle. PLoS ONE 2(5): e465. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000465)] it may actually be possible to REVERSE the aging process! Yes, not “slow down” or even “stop” aging, but reverse it! The study looked at the effects of a 6 month long resistance training program in 14 “older adults” (they didn’t give ages) who were previously sedentary. Don’t believe me? The full paper can be read here.

Another interesting (yet controversial) statement made by the doctor in this study is that long duration, low-intensity aerobic exercise may actually contribute to the aging process. (i.e. going for long walk, using a cardio machine at a steady-state intensity). His quote is:

“If we embrace this concept of aging (the gap between maximal and minimal output), and the type of training that enhances this capability; then we must acknowledge that there is a type of exercise which can produce the opposite result.  Low intensity, steady state exercise will actually accelerate aging by this definition.”

In other words the type of exercise that tells our genes to be young, strong, and disease-free is primarily short, intense, mostly anaerobic in nature vs. longer, slower, less intense exercise. So, weight training plus cardio that alternates between periods of aerobic and anaerobic (i.e. high intensity interval training), plyometrics, sprints, etc.

This is a very interesting finding, however I don’t think the message should be “aerobic exercise makes you older” or “don’t do aerobic exercise.” There is MORE than enough research to show that aerobic activity is vital to one’s heart health and cardiovascular health. An elderly or very obese person may not be able to exercise very intensely at first and may need to build up intensity over time. Doing SOMETHING is always better than doing NOTHING I don’t care what anyone says!

In conclusion, you can see there are many benefits to resistance training and substantial evidence that this type of training will improve your health, make you stronger, improve your bone density and may even reverse the aging process.

So if you haven’t started a weight training program yet – WHY NOT???

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