Tag Archives: weight training

Women Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes With Strength Training

Posted on December 9, 2016 | Comments Off on Women Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes With Strength Training
That's a dumbbell in her right hand. I work-out with those myself.

That’s a dumbbell in her right hand. I work-out with those myself.

I don’t have access to the full scientific report, but I’ve posted part of the abstract below.

The biggest problem with the study at hand is that physical activity apparently was surveyed only at the start of this 14-year study. Results would be much more robust if activity was surveyed every year or two. My overall activity level seems to change every two or three years. How about you?

Moving on.

“Compared to women who reported no strength training, women engaging in any strength training experienced a reduced rate of type 2 diabetes of 30% when controlling for time spent in other activities and other confounders. A risk reduction of 17% was observed for cardiovascular disease among women engaging in strength training. Participation in both strength training and aerobic activity was associated with additional risk reductions for both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease compared to participation in aerobic activity only.

CONCLUSIONS: These data support the inclusion of muscle-strengthening exercises in physical activity regimens for reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, independent of aerobic exercise. Further research is needed to determine the optimum dose and intensity of muscle-strengthening exercises.”

PMID 27580152

Source: Strength Training and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. – PubMed – NCBI

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Cardiovascular disease includes heart attack, cardiac death, stroke, coronary angioplasty, and coronary artery bypass grafting.

Comments Off on Women Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes With Strength Training

Posted in Exercise

Tagged , , , , ,

Improve Knee Osteoarthritis With Strength Training

Posted on November 10, 2016 | 2 comments

Osteoarthritis, aka degenerative joint disease, is quite common in folks over 45 and eventually may require knee replacement surgery. Recovery from that surgery is slow and painful; best to avoid it if you can.

Having good strength in the muscle that extends the knee helps to preserve the knee joint. That muscle is the quadriceps.

Click below for the evidence:

“Although limited, the reviewed studies suggest that participation in a resistance training program can potentially counteract the functional limitations seen in knee osteoarthritis; positive associations were found between increased muscle strength and walking self-efficacy, reduced pain, improved function, and total WOMAC score. Notably, improvements were greater in maximal versus submaximal effort testing, possibly due to a ceiling effect.”

Source: Strength training for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: A systematic review – Lange – 2008 – Arthritis Care & Research – Wiley Online Library

To get started on strengthening the quadriceps muscle, consider the following four-minute video that is two minutes too long:

Note her mention of ankle weights.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: If you’re overweight or obese, you lower limb joints will last longer if you lose the fat by following one of my books.

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

For Seniors On Weight-Loss Diet, Strength Training Beats Aerobics For Preserving Bone Mineral Density

Posted on January 8, 2016 | Comments Off on For Seniors On Weight-Loss Diet, Strength Training Beats Aerobics For Preserving Bone Mineral Density

…according to an article at MedPageToday.

"One more rep then I'm outa here!"

“One more rep then I’m outa here!”

The two experimental groups had about 60 participants each, so it was a relatively small study. (In general, the larger the study, the more reliable the findings.) Most participants were white women; mean age was 69. The experimental intervention ran for five months. An excerpt:

In one trial, the participants were randomized to a structured resistance training program in which three sets of 10 repetitions of eight upper and lower body exercises were done 3 days each week at 70% of one repetition maximum for 5 weeks, with or without calorie restriction of 600 calories per day.
In the second study, participants were randomized to an aerobic program which was conducted for 30 minutes at 65% to 70% heart rate reserve 4 days per week, with or without calorie restriction of 600 calories per day.

The beneficial bone effect was seen at the hip but not the lumbar spine.

Thin old bones—i.e., osteoporotic ones—are prone to fractures. Maintaining or improving bone mineral density probably prevents age-related fractures. In a five-month small study like this, I wouldn’t expect the researchers to find any fracture rate reduction; that would take years. 

Most elders starting a weight-training program should work with a personal trainer. I don’t quite qualify as elderly, but click if interested in my personal fitness program.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Strength training is also known as weight training and resistance exercise.

Comments Off on For Seniors On Weight-Loss Diet, Strength Training Beats Aerobics For Preserving Bone Mineral Density

Posted in Exercise

Tagged , , , , ,

QOTD: Don’t Let Gravity Get You Down

Posted on September 24, 2015 | Comments Off on QOTD: Don’t Let Gravity Get You Down
Average age of study subjects was 71

A good resistance training program will strengthen her bones, improve her balance, and prevent that hip fracture 60 years from now

Adult life is a battle against gravity. Weight training postpones your inevitable defeat.

—Steve Parker, M.D.

Comments Off on QOTD: Don’t Let Gravity Get You Down

Posted in Quote of the Day

Tagged ,

Resistance Versus Aerobic Training: Which Is Better?

Posted on April 23, 2013 | Comments Off on Resistance Versus Aerobic Training: Which Is Better?

iStock_000007725919XSmall

Weight training, also known as resistance training, may be just as effective as, or even superior to, aerobic training in terms of overall health promotion.  Furthermore, it’s less time-consuming according to a 2010 review by Stuart Phillips and Richard Winett.

I don’t like to exercise but I want the health benefits.  So I look for ways to get it done quickly and safely.

Here’s a quote from Phillips and Winett:

A central tenet of this review is that the dogmatic dichotomy of resistance training as being muscle and strength building with little or no value in promoting cardiometabolic health and aerobic training as endurance promoting and cardioprotective, respectively, largely is incorrect.

Over the last few years (decade?), a new exercise model has emerged.  It’s simply intense resistance training for 15–20 minutes twice a week.  It’s not fun, but you’re done and can move on to other things you enjoy.  None of this three to five hours a week of exercise some recommend.  We have no consensus on whether the new model is as healthy as the old.

More tidbits from Phillips and Winett:

  • they hypothesize that resistance training (RT) leads to improved physical function, fewer falls, lower risk for disability, and potentially longer life span
  • only 10–15% of middle-aged or older adults in the U.S. practice RT whereas 35% engage in aerobic training (AT) or physical activity to meet minimal guidelines
  • they propose RT protocols that are brief, simple, and feasible
  • twice weekly training may be all that’s necessary
  • RT has a beneficial effect on LDL cholesterol and tends to increase HDL cholesterol, comparable to effects seen with AT
  • blood pressure reductions with RT are comparable to those seen with AT (6 mmHg systolic, almost 5 mmHg diastolic)
  • RT improves glucose regulation and insulin activity in those with diabetes and prediabetes
  • effort is a key component of the RT stimulus: voluntary fatigue is the goal (referred to as “momentary muscular failure” in some of my other posts)
  • “In intrinsic RT, the focus and goal are to target and fatigue muscle groups.  A wide range of repetitions and time under tension can be used to achieve such a goal.  Resistance simply is a vehicle to produce fatigue and only is adjusted when fatigue is not reached within the designated number of repetitions and time under tension.”

Our thesis is that an intrinsically oriented (i.e., guided by a high degree of effort intrinsic to each subject) program with at minimum of one set with 10–15 multiple muscle group exercises (e.g., leg press, chest press, pulldown, overhead press) executed with good form would be highly effective from a public health perspective.

The authors cite 60 other sources to support their contentions.

These ideas are the foundation of time-efficient resistance training of the sort promoted by Dr. Doug McGuff, Skyler Tanner, Fred Hahn, Chris Highcock, James Steele II, and Jonathan Bailor, to name a few.

Only a minority will ever exercise as much as the public health authorities recommend.  This new training model has real potential to help the rest of us.

For folks with diabetes, the combination of aerobic and resistance training may be better than either alone, for control of glucose levels.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference:  Phillips, Stuart and Winett, Richard.  Uncomplicated resistance training and health-related outcomes: Evidence for a public health mandate.  Current Sports Medicine Reports, 2010, vol. 9 (#4), pages 208-213.

Comments Off on Resistance Versus Aerobic Training: Which Is Better?

Posted in Exercise

Tagged , , , , ,

Is Your Strength Training Regimen Outdated?

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 9 comments
Not Chris Highcock

I’m reading Hillfit: Stength, an ebook  by Chris Highcock of Conditioning Research.  One of the scientific review articles he cites in support of his recommendations is an eye-opener.

Evidence-Based Resistance Training Recommendations is available free online.  It’s published in Medicina Sportiva, which I’m not familiar with.  I’ll confess I’ve read little of the hard-core literature on the science of strength training.  It’s one of my more recent interests.

An excerpt:

We recommend that appreciably the same muscular strength and endurance adaptations can be attained by performing a single set of ~8-12 repetitions to momentary muscular failure, at a repetition duration that maintains muscular tension throughout the entire range of motion, for most major muscle groups once or twice each week. All resistance types (e.g. free-weights, resistance machines, bodyweight, etc.) show potential for increases in strength, with no significant difference between them, although resistance machines appear to pose a lower risk of injury.

The article has already got me questioning some of my notions, such as how often to work out, number of reps moving a weight, speed of moving a weight, and whether I should stick with free weights.  Why not see if your dogma is supported?  Worth a look.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Fisher, James, et al.  Evidence-based resistance training recommendations.  Medicina Sportiva, 15 (2011): 147-162.

9 Comments

Posted in Exercise

Tagged , , , , ,