Strength Training

[Nigel]

Several weeks ago I read a book by Doug McGuff MD and John Little titled Body by Science. The premise is, that by exercising one's muscles to exhaustion the body will say to itself "I'm gonna die unless I build muscle!" Either a sabre toothed tiger is going to eat me because I can't fight it off, or, I am not strong enough to catch and kill the food I need to live.

One of the PE teachers in the school I worked at has agreed to have me as a project to see how the system works, and of course I get free use of the school's weights. I did my first session on July 5th and have done one a week with the fourth yesterday. I am seeing an improvement each time. Either I am able to do more repetitions or I am putting the weight up.

The beauty of this regime is that one is most unlikely to be hurt as the weights used are about 75-80% of the maximum. Therefore whatever level you start at you will never be under real strain. And, once your body is as strong as it's going to get, the sessions are decreased to once every two weeks.

Get this:- It takes a maximum 11 minutes to complete the seven exercises I am doing to work all major muscle groups.

Combined with two lots of High Intensity Training rowing that I do in between strength training, that's still less than 15 minutes a week of actual exercise. Anybody can find 15 minutes week.

Nigel

[Mike]

Nigel,

I'm not so sure I would like to undertake the "Exercising to exhaustion" but I do commend you for doing what you think is right to lose weight and keep fit. I personally find that as I get older I have to take more things in moderation but regular exercise providing it is done in a sensible way can surely be only good for you.
I am actually at my lowest weight in 20 years since coming to live here in France, that isn't down to diet though as I find the food here very good indeed and with quite palatable wine at around £1.50 a bottle I don't go short on that either

What I do though is to spend a lot more time in the garden and I do a fair amount of walking. I am off in a minute for a walk around the lake which from my house is about 3-4 miles in total.

[Nigel]

I'm not so sure I would like to undertake the "Exercising to exhaustion" but I do commend you for doing what you think is right to lose weight and keep fit.

The book writers have clients who did their first strength training in their 80ies. A high percentage of them doubled their strength in six to twelve weeks. The muscles are exhausted, not me. I walk a bit over a mile to the school and then back again after the workout so it's not that bad.

The lifestyle I changed to is more in line with pre farming life. Walking is good and the occasional short sharp bout of all out exercise is what our ancestors did when running from predators or chasing/killing prey. I walk into town most days and carry shopping home in a rucksack. Then I do the rowing or strength training on top to build stamina and strength. Research shows that by having more muscle, other problems are either alleviated or in some cases eliminated.

Cutting out grains seems to have been a good idea too. Older daughter Suzanne is Coeliac and many more people have an intolerance to wheat etc than is realised. I now find that food does not repeat on me as Marmite on toast and French Stick did. After losing two stone, I contacted my doctor and she agreed for me to come off one of the blood pressure medicines I was on. When I was 17st 2lbs BP was always near the top of the not quite a problem band. Today I'm 14st 13lbs and BP is right in the normal range having dropped that medication. I am expecting the blood pressure to keep lowering and I shall be able to ditch the other drug too.

With the HIT rowing, my resting pulse has gone from just over 60 to about 50 since March. BP 117/70 just now.

Nigel.

[Steve]

Nigel,

The average life expectancy at birth back in 'pre farming' times was under 30 years.. not something to aim for perhaps.

Going back in time men worked really hard, and died really young. If you go far enough back to the hunters who ran all day they would be lucky to make 20.

These days we can live a life without placing great strains on our bodies and make them last much much longer. This is a pretty recent development.

My blood pressure is taken regularly, and is 'perfect'. Always has been whether I've been very overweight or not.

If you want to see how high you can drive your blood pressure a good intense weight lifting session is probably the way to do it.

Of course drinking can be pretty awful for your health and blood pressure. Stress and worry perhaps likewise.

The folks who live the longest in the UK are clear to see, and well documented. They are the pampered folks in areas like Chelsea in London, who would mostly not lift their own carrier bags let alone a weight... Their life span is likely to be substantially longer than folks who live in the frozen north supping ale and working out.

A few of my thoughts for you there...

Steve

[Nigel]

Nigel,

The average life expectancy at birth back in 'pre farming' times was under 30 years.. not something to aim for perhaps.

Going back in time men worked really hard, and died really young. If you go far enough back to the hunters who ran all day they would be lucky to make 20.

These days we can live a life without placing great strains on our bodies and make them last much much longer. This is a pretty recent development.

My blood pressure is taken regularly, and is 'perfect'. Always has been whether I've been very overweight or not.

If you want to see how high you can drive your blood pressure a good intense weight lifting session is probably the way to do it.

Of course drinking can be pretty awful for your health and blood pressure. Stress and worry perhaps likewise.

The folks who live the longest in the UK are clear to see, and well documented. They are the pampered folks in areas like Chelsea in London, who would mostly not lift their own carrier bags let alone a weight... Their life span is likely to be substantially longer than folks who live in the frozen north supping ale and working out.

A few of my thoughts for you there...

After farming started, it took thousands of years to get the average age to over 30 which it actually was when hunter gathering. And, it's only modern medicine that has allowed that improvement on what those hunter gatherers had. There is archaeological evidence to show that hunter gatherers could live healthily into their 90ies, if they didn't catch a nasty illness, have an accident or get caught by a sabre tooth tiger.

The idea is not to put a great strain on the body. Walking is not a strain and the short bursts of high intensity are also not straining in the sense you obviously mean. Hunter gatherers were actually quite relaxed, unless being chased by a predator.

The idea of the strength training I do is to keep blood pressure to a minimum, so there's no holding the breath and straining to shift weight. One just keeps breathing and continues going until the muscles say "I can't do any ore of that" even though the loading is not at maximum. The weights are set so that the maximum time for any exercise is about a minute and a half. The people doing damage to themselves are the ones who do triathlons etc.

It seems the people you are thinking of who live longest are the ones who can afford the best food and medical care.

[Steve]

Nigel,

Just my view as always.. but I don't personally believe medical care has hardly a thing to do with it. Folks I know of who have lived to very old age have tended to simply stay healthy, and are usually the ones who never go see a Doctor.

They are mainly women, and they tend to have done much less physical work than their menfolk, who tend to wear out and die off much younger.

I don't think any government will ever tell you to do as little as possible and live to a ripe old age... The story that the differences between locations are medical care related simply don't hold up when you think about them.

Most folks even in the posh parts of London get any treatment in NHS hospitals, and some of the London ones are pretty poor... but they still live say 20 or more years longer than the hard worker in Glasgow.. and it is common sense that if they have a pleasant easy life there is no reason for anything in their body to snap or break or wear out or go wrong... drive your car well it will last for decades, hammer it and it will be useless and worn out in no time...the human body is a biological machine etc etc.

Another couple of thoughts on posh private medical insurance etc.. it doesn't cover serious illness.. you can't normally get a heart transplant on private insurance etc etc.. the NHS always has to take over if you really need serious care it seems.

I had private cover when I got ill... but I had NHS treatment at Harefield, as that was the best treatment available.

Steve