So we all know we want low blood pressure, or at the very least to avoid high blood pressure. Strength training, while we are doing it, raises our blood pressure, but in a temporary way that has a longer term benefit: it lowers our resting blood pressure.
In short, by temporarily adding stress to our bodies, we teach our bodies to deal with it. That makes our blood pressure lower over time.
Weight training increases our ability to use blood glucose. I’m sure that we all thing about that all the time. OK, not really. But it is important.
Glucose is the main fuel we use in most of our cells and the exclusive source of energy for our brains. We want enough for our uses, but not too much. Excessive glucose in the blood is an indicator that we are heading for, or have arrived at, type 2 diabetes. Weight training helps us stay in the Goldilocks (“just right”) range, where we fuel our cells but don’t overtax our ability to make and react to insulin, which is the chemical in our bodies that deals with excess.
Those of us who are already dealing with diabetes can feel better with weight training. The rest of us can use weight training as part of our general preventive strategy.
Go lift.
We’re working pretty much everything this week. Three rounds.
kb alternate arm swing | 30 |
kb hammer curl | 20 |
kb halo | 10 |
| |
squat to leg lift | 30 |
good morning/deadlift | 20 |
Arnold press | 10 |
| |
woodchoppers | 30 |
lunges | 20 |
pretty princesses | 10 |
Today the Amazing Stickie is doing Bulgarian split squats. She begins standing up straight with one foot resting on a bench behind her. She holds some dumbbells, but it is all right to learn this exercise with body weight and then add weights later. Keeping her torso upright, she bends both knees until the back knee comes close to the ground and the front leg forms a right angle. (It might take more than one try to figure out how far away from the bench to stand. This is normal and part of learning.)
When she has done five or ten reps on one leg, she switches to the other side.
It’s such a stereotype, that thing about the older person becoming forgetful or wooly or generally absent-minded. Like a lot of stereotypes, there is a little bit of reality in there. However, there is evidence that suggests lifting weights can help reduce or prevent aging-related cognitive decline.
How might that work? Well, strength training is an activity of the central nervous system. When we have to lift something heavy, we need our big brains to coordinate all the moving parts to use the right amount of force in the right direction at the right time. That’s good practice for our cognition.
Of course, as we do strength training, our general health tends to improve. That means we have better circulation, improved lung function, and efficient oxygen use. All those things are good for our brains. Plus with the mood-enhancing effects of exercise, we don’t have to deal with the brain fog of depression so much.
Lift heavy: get smart.
One of the less pleasant aspects of getting older is that our bones lose density. Lifting weights helps slow this process and also reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
None of us want to have fractures. When we put controlled stress on our bones by lifting heavy objects, we cause them to get stronger and to maintain their density longer because they adapt to the challenges we give them.
Personally, I am NOT going to be one of those frail little old ladies. I am going to be as powerful as possible as long as possible. Who’s with me?
New exercises, even if they’re combinations of old exercises, keep our brains fresh. Three rounds.
(lateral lunge to) curtsy | 30 |
flies | 20 |
db hip thrust | 10 |
| |
skier jump | 30 |
rows | 20 |
curls | 10 |
| |
step ups | 30 |
bench press | 20 |
side banana | 10 |
