Resistance training, including weight lifting, use of exercise machines, use of body-weighted maneuvers, and use of resistance bands, is an absolutely critical component of feeling and looking your best. There is no substitute for it.
Aerobic fitness maneuvers such as cycling, walking, running, and stair stepping are equally vital, and they form the flipside of fitness. Most literature suggests that elevating our heart rates to roughly 70% of maximum and maintaining that for at least 20 minutes constitutes an aerobic workout. To determine your “maximum” heart rate, simply subtract your age from 220. By way of example, I am 60 years old, so my maximum exercise heart rate should be 160 bpm. Seventy percent of that is 112. Hence, I shoot for a heart rate of between 110 and 120 during my aerobic exercise. I also keep in mind that I should be able to still carry on a conversation at any point in my aerobic session (sure, I might be sucking wind, but I can still talk!). Most of us can easily find a way to get three aerobic sessions in per week. So much for the flipside of fitness.
Resistance training is more complex. Particularly as we age, we must find ways to push ourselves to maintain and gain muscle strength and muscle mass WITHOUT injuring ourselves. Not much is more discouraging that exercise- induced setbacks like tendon sprains, joint injuries, vertebral disk herniations, etc., all the more because they are so unnecessary! We should all be able to safely and effectively train our muscles with 3 or perhaps 4 resistance sessions per week, each session lasting 30 to 50 minutes. If we have roughly 112 waking hours in a week, devoting just 4 percent of them to strength training will do the trick. Think on that for a minute.
Without resistance training, we will all lose muscle size, shape, and definition. In other words, we are not going to look or feel fit. I cannot think of a patient whom I’ve seen for BHRT who does NOT want a better figure/physique. I think that every client/patient seen at Revive can make a substantial improvement in her/his appearance by incorporating resistance training and improved nutrition (more on nutrition later).
Even if you have years of experience in strength training, if you’ve been out of it for a year or more, I recommend a gradual return. Don’t worry. You’ll get there. Take six weeks to do things the right way. My strongest recommendation is that you start the process with resistance bands. If you follow some very basic safety rules, it is nearly impossible to hurt yourself with resistance bands! They have the advantage of incrementally loading the joints and the soft tissues as any given exercise progresses, thereby maximizing your control during the movement. Most injuries incurred in resistance training involve loss of control over the weight or over one’s posture and/or limb position. This just does not happen with bands.
Bands are inexpensive, portable, take up no room, can travel with you, and offer almost limitless variation. This last point is critical if you are just starting or returning to training. Variation keeps things fresh, keeps things challenging, and avoids creating overuse syndromes. With You Tube, we have access to hundreds of free band workouts: beginner workouts; advanced workouts; upper body; lower body; total body; twenty minutes; forty minutes; sport-specific; rehabilitative. You name it, it’s there.
Once you have six weeks of band training in place and have pushed yourself hard enough to have some mild soreness for a day or two after each training session, you are ready to move on if you so choose. Now, there is nothing wrong with continuing the band system, and in fact I recommend that if you travel or have odd work hours, you keep the bands as part of your routine. There are heavier bands than those typically available in the kits, and you’ll see advanced weight trainers using bands at various points in their regimens. But moving on to a mix of machines and free weights will take your fitness further. Free weights (barbells, dumbbells, kettle bells, etc.) add dimensions of coordination, balance, and stabilization that challenge us neurologically and link our musculoskeletal system with both peripheral and central nervous systems. Pound for pound, no pun intended, the right mix of free weights and machines cannot be beaten. But, they must be used correctly.
Be you a beginner looking for a place to start or an old hand looking to make further gains, I very strongly recommend at least a few sessions with a skilled personal trainer. It will be some of the best money you have ever spent.
A skilled personal trainer (or physical therapist knowledgeable in strength and fitness) can identify your weak points, can identify your strengths, can monitor your posture, can help keep you away from injuries, and can push your progress more efficiently and effectively than you can yourself. Trust me on this. I have been with a personal trainer for nearly thirty years. I’ve never suffered a serious training injury. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a strain or sprain. I continue to maintain a good level of strength and lean muscle mass despite being 60, and after all these years, I still enjoy resistance training. And very importantly, I feel that I stay more motivated and accountable with a personal trainer on board. My time and energy in the gym is well spent.
In conclusion, I simply encourage you to get a set of bands and follow along with the myriad workouts online. When you are ready to take those next steps, we can certainly offer suggestions for local personal trainers as well as for virtual options if that is your preference. For those of you who have BHRT packages with Revive, schedule an appointment to discuss in detail your workout goals and let us help you get the look and the feel of enduring fitness.
* All information subject to change. Images may contain models. Individual results are not guaranteed and may vary.