Build some MUSKLE!

Resistance training is so key to quality of life.  The official stance of the American College of Sports Medicine is for human beings to be lifting weights or doing some type of resistance training 2 times a week to build up muscle-ee parts.  If you are doing a specific sport, a coach or guide or program that is sport specific may really pay off to be sure you are focusing on the right moves!

However, for those of us just being humans, and living life, resistance training is about doing activities of daily living, like unloading groceries and climbing up the stairs, with less effort, more skill and stability.  In addition to shifting your body mass to more muscle, and increasing your metabolism, lifting also helps to protect against obesity, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Even if you are not shooting to make the power lifting team in the next Olympics, lifting weights will help you be a better runner, swimmer, triathlete, parent, etc!

Here is a what-how much-when for those looking to lift weights!

HARD AND FAST RULES

• 2-3 times a week of resistance exercise required to build muscle. 
• 1 time a week is sufficient frequency once you are satisfied with your gains.  Studies show you  will maintain your muscle mass as long as resistance, repetitions, and muscles group targeted stay the same.
• You MUST wait 48 hours between sessions before addressing a muscle group again.  For example, if you did bench press (chest region) on Monday, wait until Wednesday to address that muscle group again.  You could wait longer, and lift on Thursday or Friday but Tuesday would be too soon.  That would not allow the muscle to recover.
• 8-10 moves a session is plenty.
• Good form is essential.  Move slow and controlled.  If you are intimidated or having difficulty assessing yourself, getting professional input on form can be super helpful if you are brand new to this scene.
• Breathing, also good.  One pattern inhale in prep, pull tummy in, and exhale air out with the effort (make sure your tummy stays in!), and inhale as your return to starting position.
• You must be fatigued at the end of a set, not to muscle failure. Like you could do two more with good form. Note: going to failure is not a major no-no, but it is very wise to have a solid base of strength because it will create a lot more inflammation to take a muscle to failure.
• You need to do 8-12 reps to make it count, lighter resistance and 15 reps is better for older adults is better in the initial stages of lifting.
• If you want your muscles to keep developing, you need to keep challenging yourself by progressively making it harder over time by adding to resistance.
• Don't go nuts your first time, or first few weeks in the gym! It's better to get a moderate workout that causes a little inflammation, then to overly fatigue each and every muscle group resulting in you begging for an oil can like the Tin Man to get out of bed the next day.  
• Crunches are not the best way to train your core, try planks, deadbugs, or just isometrically drawing your tummy in first to make sure you using the right muscles.

WHERE THERE ARE LOTS OF OPTIONS

• You can perform 1-3 sets to build muscle. As a beginner, 1-2 sets will demonstrate strength gains.  Beginners, you could do just one set for a few months!  Some research and studies point to really building slowly into a program, to maximize your stick-to-it-tive-ness and minimize the time required to advance your cause. You can rock out 2-3 sets as you get stronger.  The research on 4 sets doesn't indicate that your gain will be that much more than 3 sets. 
• You can complete those sets by targeting the same muscle group, but it does not necessarily have to be the exact same exercise.  Example: 1 set of 12 reps with the bench press targets the chest, and the triceps.  Then your second set could be push ups (which also targets both the triceps and chest), or a dumbbell bench fly (which targets the chest). 
• You can do a split program.  You could lift your Arm and Back muscle groups on Tuesday and Thursday, and Legs and Core Monday and Wednesday.  This was you can lift consecutive days targeting different muscle groups!    
• You can do bigger, multi- group dynamic moves like squat with a bicep curl.  Be sure you have spent some time squatting and bicep curling alone before you put 'em together.
• You can use body weight, free weights, kettle bells, bricks (seriously...one of my clients does this right now...), just be sure to be careful!

FINAL THINKING NUGGET

• Your an individual.  You may take longer to heal, or be really quick to recover.  SO within these guidelines, be mindful of your response to the stress of lifting weights.

I also love lamp…but you should love the lifting too!

As we age, we lose muscle.  Every year after the age of 30, you lose 1% of muscle mass.  So if you maintain your weight, and do no exercise, your fat mass percentage is slowly increasing over time.  That's some intense news!  It's so much more than bathing suit confidence, think down the road. Think about being a mobile and strong senior citizen, not needing a wheel chair to see your grandkids graduation, and being able to walk to tolerate travel when you retire.

Over time, without weight training, you lose your mobility and gusto!  This is also the big add that has made massive changes for Cathy, the author of The Good Year series these last months.

I want every reader feel like that can start a program, read this "am I ready?" post  to help navigate starting.  There is also an awesome walking program on there too if weights are not where you want to start.

I have another thought to put in your noggin, especially if you are on a weight loss journey.  Your body does not cherry pick fat tissue.  When you create a calorie deficit, it pulls from muscle and fat, possibly decreasing your current fat free body mass.  This is why doing resistance type training is especially key for those losing weight, to help you maintain your muscle as you lose weight.

In my in home and online programs I use moves appropriate for your current state of fitness.  For some working on a squat is plenty. For others, a squat plus a medicine ball chop is the right amount of challenge.

When adding weight for ye arms, be careful with your arm moves, a one pound increment may be plenty.  Arm muscles are smaller in size, thickness, and length compared to the legs.  The shoulder is way more flexible than the hip joint, so the potential for injury is higher and takes more stability from muscles who don't get a lot of press, like your lower and middle trapezius, serratus anterior, and rotator cuff muscles.  And the status of your lower half, and tummy will effect the flexibility and strength of your shoulders too.

Lastly, I have a trainer too.  I like to get some feedback and have someone check my form.  I lift independently as well and check my form from multiple angles, AND I like outside opinions.  Even Bob Harper has a personal trainer, for motivation and getting that extra little bit of every workout.  My take home point being, a little help can go a real long way!

Pump some iron, friends, it's your body medicine.

SOURCES:

 ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription / American College of Sports Medicine ; [senior editor,  Walter R. Thompson ; associate editors, Neil F. Gordon, Linda S. Pescatello ; contributors, Kelli Allen . . . [et al.]]. — 8th ed.
 (Medicine iv)

Wolfe BL, LeMura LM, Cole PJ (2004). Quantitative analysis of single- vs. multiple-set programs in resistance training. J Strength Cond Res.18(1):35-47.