Hold on to your hat, this is going to blow you away.
We all are aware of how important it is to strength train in midlife, but there is a new study that I heard about that I needed to pass on to you right away.
In the Journal of American Medical Association just released a study suggest that for Functional Aging older adults benefit more from power strength training than traditional.
What does that mean?
It means pay attention to the eccentric (lengthening of the muscle) as much as the concentric (shortening of the muscle) to improve functional aging.
That means we focus on the power phase and tempo.
Let’s take a squat for instance, Normally we focus equally on the eccentric and concentric. Meaning 2 counts down to 2 counts up.
This study has proved that a power phase, say power down into the squat with a 3 count or slow concentric phase up.
Did you know in our monthly membership fitness calendar, I make sure to add a Tempo workout.
Each month I design a monthly calendar that incorporates strength, cardio and Recovery.
See the calendar here
As a midlife expert I am trained and continue to study the aging women’s bodies and the effects on how we age.
I want to always bring you the latest trends with evidence based science behind it.
Ok for the second trend, it is to work out more efficiently.
That means, getting more done in less time. Example Tabata and HIIT are workouts that hit 3 areas of fitness, strength, cardio and interval training.
We know the benefits of interval training, it will burn more calories. The benefits of Strength training is to keep our muscle tone, and benefits of cardio is obviously heart health.
Study’s shows that 2x a week, strength training with either a Tabata or HIIT workout will keep us functionally aging well.
The third trend is LESS is more.
Now I know you have always heard, more cardio burns fat, more strength training equals more muscle. More more more.
It’s not backed by science, but Recovery and the effects on the body is.
Did you know exercise is a stress to the body? Yes, a good stress but it’s still a stress.
That means if you workout 4-5 x week you must have a day of recovery.
There are obvious ways to recover, don’t exercise but did you know there are active ways to recover as well as passive.
Here are a few examples of active recovery. Yoga, pilates, stretching, foam rolling, massage. Those are incredible for the body and keeping it injury free.
Here are a few examples of passive recovery. Napping, turning off sensory devices, sitting or laying in nature, infra red sauna or just sit in sauna, cold showers. Taking time to savor the day.
I hope you found this article helpful and please feel free to share it with your friends.
Let’s have a great spring!
XO
Maria