Muscles are what makes the bones and body move. We don’t often think of their importance, until we don’t have what we need.
The science of muscles is like much of the body itself incredible systems of complexity. For Those of a Certain Age (TOCAs), to whom these posts are intended, the first item of importance is that muscles decay away with age, apart from its obvious decay from non-use; and when both TOCA-aging and non-use, irreversible, serious trouble is the outcome. The aging statistics vary by decade, gender, activity, diet, and likely a dozen other factors. The important factor for TOCAs is the inevitable decay by age which can be slowed and the condition of non-use, which can be stopped until one’s literal final days.
Importance of Maintaining Muscle Mass
It is very difficult, but not impossible, for TOCAs to build mass. (At some point, far down the decay scale, yes even limited added activity can improve musculature; but that is not our to be our intended state of being except for our very last days).
So the primary goal, which is reasonably achievable, is to sustain one’s muscle mass as much as possible as we age. As in prior poses, Peter Attia MD, and his peers (Huberman, etc.), provide the science and medicine behind why and how muscles are changing, for good or ill, and can be sustained and perhaps even grown in number and / or strength.
The operational essence of such wise counsel is use them, and stress them, to not lose them, and to slow down their inevitable decay.
As mentioned in previous posts, Attia recommends thinking about one’s marginal decade of life (the last one), even aspiring to the 10th one (one’s 90s), as to what each of us will want the physicality to enable specific capabilities. He calls this working toward one’s Centenarian Olympics (CO). So, Attia has his list of 20 or so ‘events’ in his vision of his CO, and invites us to do likewise.
We are not training for literal track and field events like the 50 meter high-hurdles. But most of us TOCAs would like our CO ‘event’ to include the desire and ability to travel, by whatever means–planes, trains, and automobiles (perhaps not during a Thanksgiving snowstorm)–including walking, hiking, biking, swimming, playing something like baseball, tennis, golf, even competitive tournaments thereof.
Another ‘event’ that should be on everyone’s list is taking care of one’s personal needs, and the enhancement of them, as shopping for and preparing special dining experiences, or ‘a night on the town’ as we used to say.
Power of Weights
Lifting and carrying weights is the great strength multiplier. What we strain, short of harm, does make us stronger.
The variables of weight lifting are the magnitude of the weight itself, the number of ups and downs (‘lifts’), the number of repeats (‘reps’), and the training cycle of days on and off. (For those seeking a little humor on “lifts,” see YouTube’s of the late John Pinet in a comedy bit about his late-in-life personal trainer experiences; sadly, it may have been too late in life for him, as he passed too soon).
For safety reasons most trainers recommend biasing toward lower weights that can be performed for more lifts. For upper body exercises that could be 10 lifts which can be performed short of an ultimate ‘can’t do one more.’ For lower body exercises, the lift number is usually recommended to be higher, perhaps 15-20 lifts.
As to reps, some trainers recommend two or three of each exercise. Alternatively, one can do multiple different exercises for any given muscle group and so one rep per exercise is effectively a multi-rep session of lifting. More on this below regarding a Functional Trainer (machine, not person).
For a full-body weight training program, a suite of exercises numbering in the one to several dozen range. (I’ve settled on 25, as described below…but something is better than nothing…much better than nothing).
As to frequency, days “on” and “off,” it is typically recommended to alternate days of working the same muscle group. Some prefer a whole body approach on a MWF or TTS framework. Some of us prefer to engage daily, so as not to ‘break the chain,’ and so alternate muscle group each day but lift each day without fail or excuse, taking just one day off a week.
Form
As discussed in earlier posts, it is critical for us TOCAs to avoid injury that puts us out of action, even for just a week, let alone a month. Things go downhill quickly with idleness even for the youth, but especially for us.
Hence it is very important to be trained by someone of skill in this subject area. We do not automatically grasp how each exercise movement needs to be done (1) to be effective, and (2) to minimize the risk of injury. This is further complicated by the existence of many dozens of distinct exercises one can profitably perform, and the difficulty of learning them by words or drawings. Having a knowing observer-coach is particularly helpful.
Such training is (broadly speaking) of two types. One is the ongoing relationship of a “coach,” who for months or years guides one through an ever varying exercises, watches for form, provides motivation (“okay, just two more…and make them good ones”), and aids in record keeping. This can be done one-on-one or as part of a group. Usually such service is connected to membership in a health / fitness facility (more below).
The other form of training is a ‘let’s get you started out right’ coaching to enable the development of a workout plan to safely work out on your own, perhaps with check points / tune-ups quarterly.
Venue
One needs to develop the habit of lifting weights, and so one needs to tie the activity to schedule, plan, and venue.
For some, the venue that works best is the health club. For others, it’s home.
With the health club option, the barrier to behavior is physically getting there. Once there, it is usually easier to put on that training persona and get to work. With the home option, the ‘getting there’ is right in front of you, but because it’s right in front of you, it is easier to dabble at exercising.
One obvious way to figure this out is to try first a short-term health club option. There will be many machines, and individual weights, and people using them (which persons may be good exemplars), and the availability of trainers of some expertise. If such venue works for you, then it’s a great solution.
There are some downsides. Two of which are (1) distractions from other people, particularly having to wait your turn, and (2) sharing sweat with many previous users who handled the equipment.
Virtues of a Home Gym
If one has the room, and discretionary funds, setting up an effective home gym is quite easy. There are two equipment requirements: free weights (primarily dumbbells) and some kind of a machine.
Free weights can be individual dumbbells, such as 10, 15, 20, 25 pounds, or ‘blocks’ that can be made into such discrete weights by the positioning of pins or levers.
Weight machines come in a plethora of forms. I recommend a category which is sometimes referred to as a “Functional Trainer,” aka “cable machines” and “multi-gym machines.” (Functional trainers of many different types are widely used in health / fitness facilities). For home use, and practical considerations of space, one should look for a basic machine that can do many different exercises.
The way functional trainers work is all the weights are permanently built into the machine, typically accessible to its cables in 10 pound block increments. Then by placement of a “pin,” the weight of any given exercise is established. Then such weight is connected through pulleys to handles (and bars) positioned at various elevations and sideways positions.
Inspire Fitness is one manufacturer of such machines. I use and can recommend their simplest system, the “M1 Multi Gym.” There are perhaps 40 or 50 different exercises one can do with it. After some experimentation, I’ve settled on 25 of them to be completed 3-5 each per day so over the course of six days each week the plan is completed. It is reasonably compact and suitable for a garage or basement. It could fit in a large den, but not likely in a spare bedroom.
Using a fitness club facility for a period of some months can give you experience with many such machines. However, these machines are bigger and more rugged because of their commercial context than one needs, or wants, for home use.
There are many different options of machines. A visit to a store selling multiple brands is illuminating. Plan to spend about $2K; but one can spend much more. Also, I recommend buying the installation service–typically called “white glove” assembly and installation, meaning it’s not inexpensive–as otherwise you will receive it by shipment of boxes weighing hundreds of pounds of loose parts with assembly directions you will be challenged to follow.
Develop the Habit
If you as a fellow TOCA has had a physically idle or intermittently or unsystematic exercise life, the problem with getting started is getting started. Once started, the problem shifts to keeping at it. (Again, John Pinet’s hilarious bit on his exercise plan is amusing, particularly his reaction to being told by his trainer that after getting started he won’t want to quit).
At some point, let’s call it Stage 3 (Stage 1 was getting started, 2 was staying started during the early weeks of dopamine driven enthusiasms), one does get into a routine. Record keeping helps, partly to show the gain that comes from the pain in mathematical terms, and partly to get the “x” or check-mark so one doesn’t ‘break the chain.’ (Another comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, offers a serious lesson about such ‘chain’ with regard to what is the critical skill to becoming a funny comedian, or a person of accomplishment in general). I’ve created a one-page Excel table with my 25 exercises that I print off each week, with the current pin-settings (weight) for each exercise, wherein I record the lifts, and after which award myself a checkmark, days Monday through Saturday. After months, and then years, of these paper records, contrary to John Pinet’s joke, you really don’t want to stop.
For those wanting a bit of John Pinet humor, here’s his bit on exercise. Sadly, he passed at the age of 50. Perhaps if he’d become his exercise sooner, he would have had his years be longer, and certainly more physically vital.
For those wanting to hear Jerry Seinfield’s counsel on developing a worthwhile habit, ‘don’t break the chain,’ it appears to stem back only to some distant print interview Since then it has been popularized by a thousand YouTube podcasters attributing it as “The Seinfeld” method (as I have done). Here’s what (apparently) Jerry himself said about it (per a reddit post): “This is hilarious to me, that somehow I am getting credit for making an X on a calendar with the Seinfeld productivity program. It’s the dumbest non-idea that was not mine, but somehow I’m getting credit for it.” So, “Seinfeld’s Method” has become a shorthand version of the more general management principle that “you get what you measure,” and that the check-box (or “x”) spawned dopamine ‘hit’ is a self-satisfying, motivating neurotransmitter, which can be a good ‘drug’ of choice (but not always).