07/30/2020
What do you think about Ben Greenfield?
I think heโs an expert in exploration of the human mind and body and the supplementation that can take it to the next level.
If you disagree with Ben, whatโs your opinion- and why?
Lifting and Longevity 101
Muscles become smaller and weaker with age via a process called sarcopenia. Research suggests that a key part of this decline occurs in your muscle cellsโ mitochondria, the primary engines of energy production. A 2007 study demonstrated that six months of progressive resistance training, otherwise known as โlifting heavy stuff,โ made the gene expression of aging mitochondria appear to be significantly younger.
During this study, researchers discovered that men at an average age
of seventy were able to improve strength by approximately 50 percent. The strength-training seniors closed the strength gap between themselves and men who were nearly forty years younger, taking it from 59 percent to 38 percent. That is an improvement of almost 36 percent in a mere six months. Muscle biopsies from the study showed a remarkable reversal of the expression profile of 179 genes associated with age and exercise.
So, what kind of weight training is best for longevity?
I do have one reminder for you: bigger muscles arenโt always better: it takes a lot of metabolic energy to carry and cool and also requires a high amount of endogenous antioxidant activity to repair.
However, compact and explosive muscle beats out pure muscle mass, especially for slowing aging. The healthiest muscles are those found on a wiry physique of modest size, capable of exerting a lot of force over a short period. I detail the science behind this in my book Boundless.
But you also want to be able to maintain strength and muscle in an uninjured state when you are forty, sixty, and eighty years old, and that does require some amount of muscle mass maintenance, not just explosiveness. For this, especially if you are just getting started or want the minimum effective dose of strength training, I recommend performing one of two specific workouts each week.
The first workout is a super-slow lifting protocol similar to that described by Dr. Doug McGuff in his book Body by Science.
For twelve to twenty minutes, perform a few multijoint exercises with relatively heavy weights, doing each rep over thirty to sixty seconds. The workout should include the following:
โข An upper-body push (e.g., overhead presses, push-ups, chest presses)
โข An upper-body pull (e.g., bent or upright rows, lat pull-downs, pull-ups)
โข A lower-body push (e.g., leg presses, squats)
โข A lower-body pull (e.g., dead lifts, Romanian dead lifts, lower back extensions, reverse
hyperextensions)
Why is this type of workout so darn effective? The first benefit is that performing reps very slowly has low injury-producing potential. In addition, a recent study coauthored by Dr. McGuff highlights how super-slow resistance training to muscular failure results in the same type of cardiovascular adaptations caused by a long run. These adaptations include a better ability to buffer lactic acid, increased mitochondrial density, and even better blood pressure.
Stay tuned for the second ultimate longevity workout tomorrow. Have you tried super slow, eccentric training before? If not, try it out and let me know what you think!
