14 Sep To Your Health: Strength Training, Live Longer, Think Better, Stay Independent!
Welcome back to the series which offers a deep dive into the world of health, wellness, and disease prevention with Telluride local Dr. Alan Safdi.
Dr. Alan is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, and a respected leader in healthcare. His blogs have featured and will continue to showcase the most current information in his fields: health, wellness and longevity.
In this installment of “To Your Heath,” Dr. Alan talks on the subject of “Stronger Body, Sharper Brain: Why Strength Training May Help You Live Longer, Think Better, and Stay Independent.”
In the following podcast, Dr. William Renner talks with Dr. Alan about why resistance training may be one of the most powerful tools we have for healthier aging.
Scroll down to read the salient details and listen to the podcast to find out more.
And click here for more health and wellness podcasts from Dr. Alan.
Most people think of strength training as something you do to build bigger muscles. But particularly as we get older, muscle may be one of the most important organs we can train, and the benefits extend far beyond how much weight we can lift.
Your brain: Strength training does not just challenge muscle. It challenges the nervous system. It requires coordination, balance, reaction time and communication between the brain and muscles. Resistance exercise may also increase BDNF, a protein involved in neuroplasticity and maintaining connections between brain cells. Clinical trials in older adults have demonstrated improvements in overall cognition and several aspects of memory, including in people with mild cognitive impairment.
Your balance and risk of falling: Maintaining leg and core strength makes it easier to get out of a chair, climb stairs, recover when you stumble and remain independent. Strength training improves balance and mobility, and when it is combined with specific balance exercises, studies show meaningful reductions in falls in older adults. That becomes enormously important because a fall and hip fracture can completely change the course of someone’s life.
Your joints, even arthritic joints: Many people with knee arthritis are afraid that exercise will further damage their knees. In fact, the opposite is often true. Studies of people with knee osteoarthritis show that properly performed resistance exercise can decrease pain and stiffness while improving strength and physical function. Stronger muscles help support and stabilize the joint.
Your bones: Bones respond to mechanical stress. Resistance training can help maintain, and in some people modestly increase, bone mineral density while strengthening the muscles that protect us when we stumble. That combination is particularly important in preventing the devastating consequences of osteoporosis.
Your blood sugar and metabolism: Muscle is one of the body’s major destinations for glucose. Contracting muscle can take up glucose even through pathways that do not depend entirely on insulin, while regular resistance exercise improves insulin sensitivity. In people with type 2 diabetes, randomized trials show measurable improvements in both fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c.
Your heart and longevity: A remarkable study following nearly 150,000 men and women for as long as 30 years found that people performing about 90 to 119 minutes of resistance training a week had a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause, a 19% lower risk of cardiovascular death and a 27% lower risk of death from neurologic disease, even after accounting for aerobic exercise. It was an observational study, so it does not prove cause and effect, but the association is striking.
Your mood and quality of life: Strength training is not simply physical therapy for the body. Randomized studies and meta analyses show reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety, along with improvements in physical functioning, confidence and several measures of quality of life.
And perhaps the most important benefit is something we rarely measure on a laboratory test: independence. Strength is what allows us to carry groceries, lift a suitcase, get off the floor, travel, play with grandchildren, hike, play tennis and continue doing the things that make life enjoyable.
So the goal of strength training is not simply to live longer. It is to preserve the physical and cognitive capacity to actually enjoy those additional years.
In this episode, we will look at what the science tells us, how much strength training may be enough, why it is never too late to start, and why resistance exercise should be considered an essential part of a comprehensive program for brain health and healthy aging.
Dr. Alan, more:
Dr. Alan Safdi is board-certified in Internal Medicine and in Gastroenterology and a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology. A proven leader in the healthcare arena, he has been featured on the national program, “Medical Crossfire” and authored or co-authored numerous medical articles and abstracts.
Dr. Alan is a long-time Telluride local, has been involved in grant-based and clinical research for four decades. He is passionate about disease prevention and wellness, not just fixing what has gone wrong.
He is also Chief Medical Officer Quadrant Health, partnered with and co-owned by Stanford University and Mayo Clinic.
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