Resistance training has been around for a while and recently gained new emphasis. Why? Because it’s beneficial in terms of bone and muscle enhancement but also offers a boost to our metabolic health. Let’s take a closer look at what resistance training is and why you might want to include it in your current routines.
Resistance training (RT) or strength training is any type of physical conditioning where muscles are being worked by opposing (resisting) a force. This generally comes in the following three types of training methods.
- Free weights: Dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, bricks, bottles of water or any other type of outside weight
- Own body weight: Isometric exercises and conditioning methods like Calisthenics, Functional Movement, Pilates and others
- Machines: Lat pulley, chest press, leg press, etc. usually named for the area of the body utilized with a host of brand names such as Nautilus, Universal etc.
Each of the above types of RT offer benefits to the body. Any type of program must include safety protocols, age-appropriate design, adherence to proper and safety advancement practices, observance of posture and body placement in all positions/exercises as well as guidance in tools of daily life patterns to support the training outside the gym or studio.
Before going into the most commonly known benefits let’s investigate certain metabolic processes enhanced by RT. As witnessed by our worldwide Covid_19 experience, individuals with underlying chronic conditions are at a greater risk for severe complications of the virus. Dr. Aseem Malhotra, cardiologist from the UK, explains it simply here in this 5-minute interview that the risk is 10-fold if you have underlying issues such as metabolic syndrome.
With or without the virus having a strong immune system along with good metabolic markers are positive steps towards vibrant health. And given only 12% of Americans are metabolically fit, improvement is potentially on the order for many of us.
What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is when you have 3 out of 5 of the characteristics listed below. Simply said certain metabolic processes are not functioning optimally.
- Excessive waist circumference
- Elevated triglycerides
- Elevated blood glucose
- High blood pressure
- Reduced HDL
In Benjamin Bikman’s meticulously researched and highly recommended book Why We Get Sick he states, “one in three US adults has it, and almost 90% of all adults have at least one feature.” He additionally adds that “insulin resistance is such a critical component of the metabolic syndrome that it used to be known as insulin resistance syndrome.”
Grossly simplified roles of blood glucose and insulin
Insulin is a hormone secreted in the pancreas to regulate your body’s blood glucose levels. When you eat food that raises your blood glucose, insulin is released in the body to escort glucose into the blood to various parts of your body, such as brain, heart, muscles and fat tissues. If you are insulin “sensitive” things are working properly, if you are “resistant” this process is compromised.
Ultimately if this process goes on for long periods of time (often undiagnosed) you become Type 2 Diabetic. The effects of these impairments lead to other grave complications. Most importantly, taking positive steps NOW to avoid metabolic syndrome is a good anti-aging game plan.
“Indeed, insulin resistance has a hand in a startling number of very serious chronic diseases, including problems of the head, heart, blood vessels, reproductive organs, and more.
Most people with insulin resistance will ultimately die from heart disease or other cardiovascular complications; others will develop Alzheimer’s disease, breast or prostate cancers, or any number of other lethal diseases.”
Benjamin Bikman, PhD in Bioenergetics, author Why We Get Sick
What do metabolic markers have to do with RT?
“Beyond the obvious important role that skeletal muscle plays in locomotion, it is also a critically important tissue in maintaining health. Skeletal muscle is active tissue. It burns a tremendous amount of lipid, stores the majority of ingested glucose, and is a significant contributor to metabolic rate (BMR). As such, one can easily appreciate how important it is to maintain a large and metabolically active skeletal muscle mass.”
Physical Activity and Health, Editors, Claude Bouchard, Steven N. Blair & William L. Haskell
“Regular resistance training can decrease the risk of heart disease by lowering body fat, decreasing blood pressure, improving cholesterol, and lowering the stress placed on the heart while lifting a particular load. Improving muscular fitness is very important for enhancing quality of life.”
American College of Sports Medicine
“In addition, resistance training may improve balance, preserve bone density, independence, and vitality, reduce risk of numerous chronic diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis, while also improving psychological and cognitive benefits.”
Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Short and sweet with over 600 skeletal muscles in your body and being one of the largest stores of glucose in the body exercise of any kind contributes positively to metabolic health. That said and to quote Professor Bikman one more time,
“There is benefit to any type of exercise, whether aerobic or resistance, though resistance training may offer a greater improvement in insulin sensitivity for the time spent.”
Training Thoughts
Right now, the national guidelines recommend adults engage in muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week. Depending on your overall goals and current activity load, the most appropriate plan will be the one YOU WILL DO!
Many coaches and trainers find increasing benefits to those programs that push the muscles to exhaustion, whether it be in time under the load and or number/set of repetitions. This pushing to a level of “can’t do one more repetition” does not mean push an individual to injury. Thus, the cruciality of working with a smart and safe trainer and or system of methodology. It simply means, from a metabolic perspective you are really trying to empty out the store of glucose in the muscles, thus no more energy left.
I encourage you to dig deeper and investigate individuals who have taught and researched the topic for decades such as Dr. Doug McGuff, Arthur Jones, Ken Hutchins and Steve Maxwell.
In Summary RT Benefits
- Helps maintain muscle strength
- Combats loss of muscle mass
- Assists in prevention of osteoporosis and sarcopenia
- Reduces complications of frailty in older adults, such as falls and gait issues
- Improves metabolic processes like blood glucose regulation in skeletal muscles
- Assists in overall body composition and neuromuscular structures
In any lifestyle enhancement program exercise is truly a vital component. This goes hand in hand with proper nutrition, regular sleep, stress reduction and strong social contacts. They are a team that requires good guidance and maintenance at any age.
“To keep our brains at peak performance our bodies need to work hard.”
Dr. John Ratey, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
