Sunday Story…More Priorities (Strength training)

    

 

Strength or resistance training is the cornerstone of fitness and longevity.  Muscular strength, endurance, and overall health are the rewards when you build a stronger you. Resistance can come from body weight, free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells), resistance bands, or machines (we don’t love these!)

We know the benefits of regular strength training, including bone health, a metabolic boost, and increased muscular strength. The foundational exercises are well known to all of us. Squats, deadlifts, pressing (both vertically (overhead) and horizontally (bench), and core stabilization. We recommend doing resistance exercises at least twice a week, and three times a week is even better, for at least 30 minutes, with sixty minutes being even better (you do need to warm up first).

Each session should have a different focus. In other words, we will be most effective when we focus on one area instead of trying to address them all. There will be a time and place for that, but when we start, our focus should be singular. The principle of progressive overload is critical here. Progressive overloading involves gradually increasing resistance or weight over time. This increase means our muscles are constantly challenged, which leads to growth in strength and, if we are lucky, size. This is adaptation in action.

Guess what else you need to get stronger? Rest! That’s correct, adaptation occurs during rest. To become stronger and healthier, you need to rest.  Rest helps prevent injuries and overtraining. You know what else is going to help? Proper nutrition! Healthy eating habits will take you a long way on your fitness journey. It is at the base of the pyramid that we refer to when discussing fitness—lots of protein and vegetables, healthy fats, and some carbohydrates.

Probably the most essential part of this journey is consistency. You must attend regularly every week without fail. This may be the most challenging part of your fitness journey. Set a time daily and then keep that time sacrosanct.

Next week…the priority recap!

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…More Priorities…Resistance Training

Today, we are tackling resistance training or weight training. The reasons for doing training of this type should be obvious, but just in case you have forgotten, here are some:

Improve/keep bone density up. Every year past the age of about 30, our bones get weaker due to several factors. The way to stop/reverse/prevent this from happening is by doing resistance training, which involves picking up heavy stuff.

Prevent/keep muscle mass. Again, after 30, we begin to lose muscle mass. This is a slow leak until you get to about 50, and then it accelerates and gets even faster the older you get. The answer is the same as above…pick up heavy stuff.

Improve your metabolic base rate. The older we get, the more our metabolism slows down. We need fewer calories because our “burn rate” is lower, which results in weight gain. To keep your rate up, you need to pick up heavy stuff.

There are more reasons (mental health, anaerobic capacity, and more) than those three, but those three are enough.

What do we mean by weight or resistance training? In a nutshell, it means picking up and moving heavy stuff. There are many ways to do this, but probably the easiest is to practice and train the major lifts…deadlift, squat, and press. Do this several times a week. Add weight when your form is rock solid. Don’t trade weight for form; it is a recipe for injury. This is as simple as I can make it. You can start doing this at any age; it is never too late. Studies have shown improvement at every age, including in the 80s and 90s.

Next week, more specifics!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.com

775-338-2412    

 

 

 

Sunday Story…More Priorities (exercise edition)

The three key components of exercise are strength, cardio-respiratory, and mobility. Strength training helps maintain muscle mass and bone density, cardio-respiratory work improves heart and lung function, and mobility exercises enhance flexibility and movement through different planes. These elements are crucial for sustaining physical health and vitality as we age.

The mobility (strength plus flexibility) piece is the easiest one. There are several mobility apps…GOWOD and Pliability are two of the apps I know of. If you want GOWOD, I have a discount code for you! It’s the one I use, but both are good. Mobility is essential to keep your body flexible and strong through many different planes of movement. I do 15 minutes a day, 5 7 days per week.

Cardiorespiratory work has three pillars: long slow distance, VO2 max, and sprinting.

Long, slow distance is also known as zone 2 training and is a conversational pace. You may not want to converse, but you could if necessary. To be truly accurate, you will need a heart rate monitor.

Your VO2 max may be one of the best benchmarks for longevity. VO2 max (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, or maximal aerobic capacity) is the maximum oxygen consumption rate attainable during physical exertion. So, the higher your VO2 max is, the more work you can do and the longer you can do it. This measure requires more equipment and work to obtain. There is a formula that uses bodyweight and other measurements, but it is only a guesstimate.

When we talk about sprinting, we mean your maximum sustained output for 10-30 seconds. Think of the 100-year dash or a 10-cal row. It is hard and fast, and you are all in when you finish. Then you repeat several times with lots of rest in between.

 These three cardiorespiratory areas are essential, especially in the longevity space.

So, mobility every day. Long, slow distance 2 or 3 times a week. VO2 max training 1 or 2 times a week, and sprint training only 1 time per week or less.

Next week, we will tackle strength training!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412    

  

Sunday Story…More Priorities

We all have limited time and energy. How you prioritize your time and energy expenditure is up to you. The best way to determine your priorities is to start with the end in mind (where have you heard that before!?)

So, in terms of your fitness, where do you want to be 5, 10, or 20 years from now? What do you want to be able to do? These are your decisions, not anyone else’s. Knowing the answer to this question will help determine what you need to do now to get there.

There are some fundamental things that we all must do to remain healthy and vital.

First is our cardiovascular health. The biggest killer in America is cardiovascular disease. You must have a healthy heart, or everything else is for nought. The best way to think of your heart’s health is to remember that the heart is a muscle and needs exercise to stay energized and healthy. That exercise should take three forms…easy, medium, and all out. Easy is a pace you can hold for 30 to 60 minutes and have a conversation while doing it. Medium is the work we do for 5-20 minutes, where our heart and respiration are such that we are out of breath but not gasping for air. Hard is all-out sprinting.

You should go easy 2 or 3 times a week and medium 1 to 3 times a week. And hard should only be done 1 time a week. Remember, hard is an all-out, leave nothing on the table effort. We often do “tabata” for this…20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest.

Next week…resistance training!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com    

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…Focus on the Right Stuff

There has been a lot of news lately about all the various things that are going wrong with our society regarding our health.

We are worried about seed oil, GMO foods, and food dyes. These things are all worthy of our concern. Food dyes may contain chemicals that are not good for our bodies. Genetically modified food may have altered the makeup of our food to make it less healthy than before. Seed oils contain trans-fat (sometimes) and may be overly processed to render them unhealthy.

These are all valid concerns. But they should not be at the top of your priorities. Similarly, supplementation should not be at the top of that list either. You shouldn’t be worried about the dangers of running when your longest walk is from the couch to the refrigerator. No exercise regimen is dangerous if you aren’t doing any exercise.

As I have repeatedly said, the first and most important thing is to Eat Real Food. The first part of eating real food is in the fruit and vegetable aisle. The second part is filling your plate with high-quality protein sources. If you aren’t doing those two things every time you eat, you worry about the wrong stuff!

Understand me…those other things are concerning. But if you are not eating a diet full of varied and colorful foods, you shouldn’t worry about them. Focus your attention on the right things and let the concerns and anxiety go away. The worst thing about our modern diets is the distance we have traveled from healthy food to ultra-processed crap too many of us are putting into our bodies.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412