Your Secret Weapon for Long-Term Health
I want to share a passage out of Dr. Doug McGuffs book titled Body by Science:
"... Two hypothetical individuals are working out. One is going to perform steady-state, low-intensity running five days a week, and the other is going to perform high-intensity strength training once or twice a week.
The individual who performs the high-intensity training will be the one who gets the benefit of glycogen depletion and reloading, while the one performing the lower-intensity, more frequent steady-state work is at far greater risk for cardiovascular disease, particularly conditions resulting from increased cholesterol levels.
Not only is he never emptying his muscles completely of glycogen with his low-intensity, steady-state activities (in the pursuit, he believes, of improving his cardiovascular health), but also, because he is not using his muscles at a high enough level of effort, they will-as studies have shown-begin to atrophy.
The glycogen-storing capacity of these muscles will diminish with each successive week that he engages in his low-intensity, steady-state activity, lowering the level at which a cell becomes "full" of glucose, and the bloodstream begins shunting the superfluous glucose to fat storage, thus hastening a process that could lead to coronary artery disease.
His glycogen-storing capacity is also reduced, so that the point at which his muscles become completely full of glycogen-and, therefore, the point at which he will develop insulin resistance - will now potentially come sooner.
This is particularly true if he experiences a loss of muscle mass, which low-intensity, steady-state activity can perpetuate.
The other factor to consider is that while the runner may be obtaining some benefit from his modality of physical activity as compared with someone who is completely sedentary, he is also plodding along in a kind of fool's paradise, because he's not even getting all of the aerobic benefits that he could be getting from exercise. In the process of doing what he thinks is correct, over the long term, he could actually be decreasing his muscle mass to the extent that his glycogen storage capabilities decrease, so that his risk for developing insulin insensitivity is going to rise."
The takeaway here isn't to ditch aerobic altogether. It's about recognising how important the role of strengthtraining in your long-term health.
Improving insulin sensitivity: Making your body more efficient at managing blood sugar.
Increasing glycogen storage capacity: Creating more "room" for glucose in your muscles.
Boosting metabolism: Muscle tissue is metabolically active, helping you burn more calories even at rest.
Preserving and building muscle mass:Counteracting age-related muscle loss and maintaining overall physical function.
Potentially achieving better overall fitness:Strength training can complement your cardiovascular workouts and lead to a more well-rounded physique and improved performance in various activities.