When Training, Don't Go It Alone!

I gave a talk this morning to a Lebanon business group I’m a part of and got the following question: what is your take on rowing?

As in, a rowing machine, for cardio. 

As with most things, I tailored my answer to the individual. This guy is in his late 40s or early 50s, pretty lean, and not a lot of muscle mass.

For him, I said I was not in favor of it and would rather him lift weights because guys lose muscle as they age at about 1% per year starting in their 30s and can compound by as much as 5% percent per decade.

When you get old you need muscle as a bulwark against the ravages of old age. Muscle helps fight chronic disease, regulate blood sugar, reduces risk for cardiovascular disease, helps with brain cognition, and, oh yeah, helps you move and enjoy life.

Not only do we lose muscle, but we also start to dip in testosterone starting in our 30s.

Testosterone helps with hormone regulation, muscle protein synthesis (ie, helps your muscles recover from workouts), appetite, fights against depression and anxiety.

By the time you’re 80, your body is struggling to produce a quarter to half the amount of testosterone you used to. 

So this compounds the problem with muscle shedding. You lose muscle AND testosterone which leads to a fragile old guy.

I don’t want this for this individual, so I recommended him hitting the weights.

What is the best way to hit the weights? Doing it in community. 

As one recent study shows: those that workout on their own had less progress and more injury versus people workout with training partners. Those that worked out with a personal trainer had the most progress and least injury.

What’s the best way to ensure you’ll go to the gym, especially if you’re a dude? If you got some other guy there to push you and call you out on your crap for showing up. 

What’s the best way to ensure you’ll workout over a long period of time? Not getting injured. If you’re injured, you’re not going to do much of anything.

What’s the best way to ensure you won’t get injured? Hiring a trainer who knows what they’re doing (here's 16 things to consider when hiring a trainer).

That’s something we pride ourselves on at Rise Strength and Performance – we have a long track record of keeping people safe and working out effectively. Whether people are new to lifting, coming back from a major surgery, or have been around the weightroom a ton – our coaches can help them move and reach their goals. 

If this sounds like you and you want to hit the gym again but aren’t sure where to start. Reach out to me below and we can get you moving well, feeling great, and keeping that muscle mass on as you age. Trust me, YOU DON’T WANT TO BE WEAK AND OLD!!