Strength Training Equals A Longer, Healthier Life!

There's no question that if we want to live a long and healthy life, we need to be able to lift heavy weights. No this doesn't mean you have to end up looking like a body builder, in fact, lean but explosive,  powerful, and efficient muscles will give you the best longevity.

And age cannot be a factor. No matter how old you are, you can start today (and need to). A National Health Institute Survey found that older adults who engaged in strength training at least twice a eek had 46% lower odds of death for any reason than those who did not!

But the thought of strength training can be very intimidating for a lot of people as they think it means having to go to a gym and lift really heavy weights or use complicated machines. Thankfully this isn't the case.

Yes, if you want to add muscle mass as fast possible then you need to either lift really heavy weights or utilize very slow weight training (which we will discuss later in this blog). But research is showing that you can, over time, get the same gains in muscle size and strength with high reps and lower weights, it just takes a little longer.

One study that measured 2 different groups - one lifted 80% of their 1 rep max to muscle fatigue and the other lifted at only 30% of their 1 rep max to muscle fatigue - found that the weight of the load didn't matter. What actually mattered was that the muscle was worked to complete fatigue.

This means you don't even need weights to get started. Just do push-ups, or squats, or tricep dips, or any other body weight exercise at home, but make sure you go to fatigue.

And if you are wanting to use weights but your not comfortable loading them up too heavy, another study showed that 30-35 reps with light weights will get the same gains as 8-12 reps of heavier weights! Again it's not the weight, it's getting to muscular fatigue.

Maybe the best way of all to build strength is to use super slow (eccentric) weight training 1-2 times per week. If you are interested in this just look up Dr Doug McGuff or even watch this great video demonstrating it here.

So the 2 takeaways are this:

1. To be healthy for a long time you have to use some form of weight training in your weekly exercise.
2. You don't have to use heavy weights (or even weights at all) to gain muscle size and strength. Just work to complete muscle fatigue.

If pain or injury is stopping you from working out then click here for more information.