Written by: Karla Bosnar, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Everyone loves the idea of staying young. What comes to mind first when you think of “how to stay young” or “slow down aging”?
Have you ever considered training? In particular WEIGHT training?
Think about all that you’re capable of now. Are you able to lift heavy objects, open jars, jump, twist, reach and move with ease? Think about what having this ability allows you to do, the lifestyle that it allows you to live. How good does it feel? Now think about not having that.
Imagine that getting out of a chair is difficult. Sure, we're going way ahead in time, but people end up there because they stopped lifting, jumping and moving way before that.
From the age of 30 onwards, we lose approximately 3-8% of muscle mass per decade. The rate of decline is even higher after the age of 60 (Volpi, Nazemi & Fujita, 2004). The deterioration of muscle is known as sarcopenia. With sarcopenia, comes a loss of strength, power and mobility. There is a preferential loss of the stronger and faster contracting type 2 (fast twitch) muscle fibres (think explosive).
Having more muscle mass means you burn more calories at REST. Therefore loss of muscle also means a lower resting energy expenditure, meaning fewer calories are burned and you have a higher chance of increased fat mass if weight is gained (Hunter et al., 2019).
Having less muscle mass is also linked to increased insulin resistance (Haines et al., 2020). All these lead to decreased performance, function, increased fat mass and poor metabolic health, with increased risks for obesity and type 2 diabetes (Distefano & Goodpaster, 2018).
Training which incorporates fast and explosive movements, lifting heavy and focuses on training to or close to failure, comes with the benefit of being able to move with ease as well as increased muscle mass, strength, power and bone density, another part of the body affected by aging (Hong & Kim, 2018). This type of exercise can also prevent “age-associated muscle insulin resistance” and reduced mitochondrial capacity (Distefano & Goodpaster, 2018).
Mitochondria is considered the POWERHOUSE of the cell, playing an important role in the body with cellular respiration.
Although many are inspired to begin lifting weights as building muscle is needed to have a “toned” body shape, you can see how beneficial strength, power and hypertrophy training is in slowing down the aging process, improving physical performance, function and health.
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Karla Bosnar, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Karla Bosnar is a mum and business owner. She is an online exercise physiologist who has a unique approach that combines evidence based training, nutrition for fat loss and mindset work, with 11 years of experience. Karla grew up playing tennis, loves the outdoors, and is passionate about creating programs that get women strong, powerful and resilient! She has battled through her own disordered eating and found true food and body freedom. Faith and family are important values! Movement mastery, body transformation and mindset work! Karla has seen women break through their barriers and achieve their full potential through this work. She created a life she truly loves and wants the same for other women.
References:
Volpi, E., Nazemi, R., & Fujita, S. (2004). Muscle tissue changes with aging. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 7(4), 405–410. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.mco.0000134362.76653.b2
Distefano, G., & Goodpaster, B. H. (2018). Effects of Exercise and Aging on Skeletal Muscle. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine, 8(3), a029785. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a029785
Hunter, G. R., Singh, H., Carter, S. J., Bryan, D. R., & Fisher, G. (2019). Sarcopenia and Its Implications for Metabolic Health. Journal of obesity, 2019, 8031705. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8031705
Haines, M. S., Dichtel, L. E., Santoso, K., Torriani, M., Miller, K. K., & Bredella, M. A. (2020).
Association between muscle mass and insulin sensitivity independent of detrimental adipose depots in young adults with overweight/obesity. International journal of obesity (2005), 44(9), 1851–1858. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0590-y
Hong, A. R., & Kim, S. W. (2018). Effects of Resistance Exercise on Bone Health.
Endocrinology and metabolism (Seoul, Korea), 33(4), 435–444. https://doi.org/10.3803/EnM.2018.33.4.435
