Resistance Training, a crucial component of your overall health
According to Anahad O’Connor, who recently published an article in The New York Times about ‘How to get strong’, only 6 percent of adults do the recommended minimum amount of at least two muscle-strengthening workouts each week!
“Neglecting resistance training – any type of workout that builds strength and muscle – is a big mistake. It increases your metabolism, lowers your body fat and protects you from some of the leading causes of early death and disability.” Says O’Connor.
Our muscles start to deteriorate as early as we reach our 30s! Every decade we lose about 8 percent of our muscle mass and once we turn 60 this will even increase. We know that muscle loss has severe consequences such as mobility limitations, impact on your bone health, increased onset of diseases, and premature death. According to Dr. Wayne Westcott, professor of exercise and science at Quincy College in Massachusetts, the same factors that help you maintain muscle are the same factors that keep your bones strong and dense. As you lose muscle with age your bones become brittle. “The bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons in your musculoskeletal system all work together, and they either become stronger together or weaker together,” he said. “Whenever you lose muscle you automatically lose bone – they go hand in hand.” Because of this you’re at a greater risk of osteoporosis, arthritis, chronic back pain, frailty and fractures.
The good news is that you can slow down these processes by years, even decades with a muscle strengthening program that works the entire body. Just two resistance-training sessions per week can reverse the age-related cellular damage that leads to muscle loss and brittle bones.
“Resistance training is the closest thing to the fountain of youth that we have,” said Brad Schoenfeld, an assistant professor of exercise science and director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Lehman College in New York.
Several studies have shown us that people who build muscle, live longer. It improves cardiovascular health, it improves your cardiorespiratory fitness, it helps regulate and dispose of blood sugar and your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes is reduced.
As we age, on average, we gain about a pound of fat a year. The fat we gain replaces the muscle we lose. Multiple studies have shown that combining a healthy diet with resistant training are one of the best ways to burn fat and hold on to muscle.
As a personal trainer I can tell you easily how to build strength in may different ways. But in this article, I want to emphasize the benefits of TRX suspension training. Over the last few years I have been training many middle-aged and older people on the suspension trainer. It keeps amazing me how fast they build strength, flexibility, balance and core stability and how their bodies change rapidly. The trainings also motivate their way of healthier eating. They feel and look fitter overall! It’s a WIN WIN!
Independent science shows that Suspension Training provides muscular and cardiovascular benefits that can amount to a tremendous impact on an individual’s overall health: Burn Fat, Build Strength and Improve Heart Health. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2540174/trxtraining.com/assets/ACE_TRXStudy.pdf
Once people know how to use the TRX, when trained by a professional TRX trainer, they can use the tool at home, in their own time and they can progress at their own pace.
TRX suspension training is my preferred Resistance Training method. It provides world-class training for everyone, it’s simple, it can be done anywhere at any time and most of all it’s proven effective to have a great impact on people’s overall health.
Link to article in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-build-muscle-strength
Carla De Peuter
Personal Trainer and Healthy Lifestyle Coach
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