Strength for Everyday Life
We often think about strength training as an activity for athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness competitors but strength is essential for everyday life. Consider the amount of strength required to stand up and sit down in a chair, to carry your groceries, to lift household items and to pick up your kids. All these activities require a great deal of strength.
The natural aging process is to lose muscle strength at about a rate of about 3-5% after the age of 25-30. This percentage increases with inactivity unless muscle strength is trained on a regular basis. The term, sarcopenia, is a type of muscle loss or muscle atrophy that occurs with aging and/ or immobility. It is a degenerative loss of muscle size and strength. The rate of muscle loss is dependent on exercise level, exercise type, immobility, nutrition, and rest.
According to the World Health Organization between 65-70% of adults do not meet the muscle strengthening guidelines as identified by Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health. This number is believed to have increased dramatically during the pandemic when fitness activities were more difficult to access and may be as high as 75-80%.
Resistance training is recommended a minimum of 2 times a week in complement to cardiovascular training and mobility work for a total of 5 or more times per week. There are a wide range of resistance training methods and techniques that can be added to your fitness program. Muscle conditioning or endurance training is a method of stimulating the muscle to work harder than it is used to over a longer period of time. This may involve body weight training exercises or portable equipment such as resistance bands or TRX. Muscle strength requires a higher level of muscle overload to change the overall strength output of a muscle or group of muscles. This type of training requires the use of resistance equipment, free weight, kettlebells, and heavy resistance bands. This type of training requires an intensity level of momentary muscle fatigue by the end of a set of exercises at approximately 12-15 repetitions.
To stay strong for life it is recommended that you train both muscular endurance and strength. If you are not sure how or what to do, we have a team of experts that can help you. Or attend a group Strength class and receive coaching for a total body workout. Check the class schedule for a class that works for you.
The ACADEMY Training Team
Helen Vanderburg, Coach, Instructor, Co-owner
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