Anh Bui’s main focus as a physical therapist is to treat and prevent running injuries. Her most common prescription for patients? Lifting weights.
“Sometimes I feel like my job is being a salesperson to get them to do strength training,” said Dr. Bui, who’s based in Oakland, Calif.
It’s often an uphill battle. Nearly half of American adults meet government guidelines for aerobic exercise (150 minutes or more of weekly moderate activity, or 75 minutes if it’s vigorous). But only half of those also do the recommended two muscle-strengthening sessions each week.
The benefits of lifting go beyond avoiding injury. Even if you’re aerobically fit, resistance training further improves cardiovascular health and extends life, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in December.
Yet even people who enjoy exercise often find strength training intimidating or unpleasant, said Amanda Paluch, the statement’s lead author and a researcher at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much to see benefits. Two 15- to 20-minute sessions weekly are effective for gaining strength and improving health, she said.
Why you need more than walking or running
Aerobic exercises like walking, running and cycling increase your cardio-respiratory fitness, or how well your heart and lungs support working muscles, Dr. Paluch said. The higher your fitness level, the longer and healthier your life, research shows.
Strength training also improves cardiovascular health. Muscle absorbs more glucose than other tissue, so building more reduces risk for Type 2 diabetes, said Stuart Phillips, a kinesiology professor at McMaster University. Resistance training also appears to improve blood vessel function, reducing blood pressure by about the same amount as aerobic training, but in fewer sessions per week.
Of course, strength training also gets you stronger muscles and tendons, which better absorb impacts from walking and running, protecting you from injuries, Dr. Bui said. As you age, muscle strengthening is essential for maintaining independence. Research also suggests that it offsets age-related declines in muscle and bone mass, warding off lower back pain, falls and fractures.
How to add lifting to your routine
“To get stronger, you need to practice things that make you stronger,” Dr. Phillips said. That means dumbbells or other weights, resistance bands or body-weight movements like push-ups. Simply adding a pair of ankle or wrist weights to your walk isn’t challenging enough to build much muscle, he added. And while yoga and Pilates offer many other benefits, they don’t build as much strength as resistance training, which gradually increases loads over time.
If you have high blood pressure, arrhythmias or other cardiovascular conditions, check with your doctor first, Dr. Paluch said. However, most people — especially those who are already exercising — can ease in on their own. Here’s how.
Check your calendar.
Research suggests even one strength-training session a week extends life compared to none. But for the full range of benefits, aim for twice weekly, Dr. Paluch said.
Assess your schedule and find two 15- to 20-minute slots you could dedicate to strength training, said Morit Summers, a personal trainer and owner of FORM Fitness Brooklyn.
Coordinate with your cardio.
You can do strength training and cardio during the same workout if you like, Ms. Summers said. Some gyms and studios even offer classes that include both.
The order you put them in isn’t critical, especially when you’re first starting. But doing your cardio first can serve as a warm-up for strength training. Hopping on a treadmill or bike also allows you to scope out the weight room and plan your workout.
If you prefer to schedule them separately, slot strength workouts between running or walking days, Ms. Summers said, with at least one day between to recover.
Plan your routine.
Just as you plan the distance and route for your run or walk, think through your strength workouts in advance.
Many fitness apps offer strength classes, Dr. Bui said. If you have the resources, a session or two with a personal trainer can teach you good form and a basic routine. Check the U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals for an expert in your area.
Or build your own in five moves with this basic framework from Dr. Phillips:
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Another lower-body exercise, focusing on the backs of your thighs (preferably some form of deadlift, where you’re picking something up off the ground)
Find your weight.
According to a meta-analysis published in July, a few reps with heavy weights or more reps with lighter weights both increase strength. The key is to finish a set feeling fatigued but not necessarily like you’re going to drop the weight, said Dr. Phillips, the study’s lead author.
He recommends starting with a weight you can lift eight to 12 times, then repeating that two to three times during your workout.
Once the exercises feel easier, bump up either your weight or the number of repetitions by 2 to 10 percent (or add a couple repetitions of body-weight exercises), Dr. Paluch said. This can happen quickly at first — within a few weeks — as your brain learns to recruit more muscle fibers. Improvements in cardiovascular measures like blood pressure can occur within three to six months.
If you stick with it that long, you might also find you enjoy strength training more than expected, Ms. Summers said. Walking or running outdoors clears her mind. But strength training makes her feel more powerful, mentally and physically.
“They’re both super important,” she said. “They’re just very different.”
Cindy Kuzma is a journalist in Chicago and a co-author of “Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart.”
Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/well/move/strength-training-workout-exercise.html