AREAS OF INTEREST: METABOLISM, MUSCLE, ENERGY, FIBER TYPES, OLDER ATHLETES, CHOLESTEROL, DIABETES.
by: Tom Seabourne Ph. D
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Your body loses about six pounds of muscle per decade. With less muscle your body burns fewer calories. You require less food, but if you eat the same as you did when you were younger, you will gain fat.
Muscle is the engine for your metabolism. If you gain one pound of muscle, you must consume an extra fifty calories per hour to support it. On a brighter note, for every pound of muscle you build, you can eat an extra fifty calories per hour without gaining fat. Lifting weights with your PowerBlock increases your bone density therefore decreasing your chances for osteoporosis. You will be stronger to rise from your chair or carry grandchildren.
Maintaining muscle speeds up your metabolism and increases the good HDL cholesterol. More muscle helps raise your aerobic capacity and prevent type II diabetes because additional muscle uses more oxygen, and takes up extra sugar.
You may not want to grow slabs of muscle like Arnold Scwarzenegger, but you can preserve whatever muscle you have. Resistance training is the secret to firm, strong, shapely muscle. Later, minimize the fat between your skin and muscle by eating correctly and aerobicizing.
In our middle years, most of us lift weights for health, fitness, and stress management. Keeping up with grandchildren is another purpose to remain in peak condition. Check with your doctor. If everything is okay, begin strength training slowly. Fortunately, if you were a former athlete, there is anecdotal evidence of muscle memory. Muscle memory implies that if you were previously muscular, it will be easier to restore. Specifically, you may have lifted eights in high school but not touched a weight since. You will increase your muscle sooner than someone who had never trained with weights.
You may be forced to curtail your weight training due to an emergency or priority. But do not quit altogether. It is easier to maintain muscle then to regain it. And motivation to begin again may not come easy. A week’s vacation is acceptable, but taking a month off means starting over.
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A prolonged break can lead to bone and muscle loss equivalent to several years of aging. Use it or lose it is a true phenomenon.We can increase muscle with resistance training but we can’t do much about losses in circulating anabolic hormones that increase muscle. Anabolic hormones increase protein synthesis. We lose fast twitch muscle fibers as we age. Fast twitch fibers are responsible for sprint speed. Carl Lewis is a world class anomaly by winning a gold medal in a sprint activity at thirty five years old.
If you only have time for one form of exercise, weight training is the single best activity you can do for your body. Lifting weights correctly never injured anyone. Problems arise when enthusiastic lifters try to hoist too much too soon. It is not how much weight you lift, it is how you lift the weight. Proper form is essential. Indeed, experienced lifters are not immune to injury. Lack of concentration, lackadaisical spotters, or equipment failure may contribute to injury. Pay attention to nagging injuries. Problem areas include backs, knees, shoulders, and elbows. To protect your back strengthen your abdominals, leg, hips, and stretch your hamstrings. Your knees can be If you incur a soft tissue injury be prepared for a longer recovery than when you were a teenager. A simple muscle strain may result in a debilitating back problem. An irritated elbow may evolve into tendinitis. Workout around potential difficulties. If you have prostate problems, sitting on a stationary bicycle seat for prolonged periods may be contraindicated; but you can walk on a treadmill. Give your upper body a rest if your chest is sore from a previous workout. If your shoulder bothers you, train with dumbells to avoid pain. |
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