Addressing medical conditions that make sickness worse

“If you had to be admitted to an intensive care unit, the 'start' point from which you would atrophy all your organs is predicated on your degree of muscle mass. In other words, how long it would take before you reach multi-system organ failure and die is directly linked to your level of muscle mass“. ~ From the book Body By Science. Having more strength might make all the difference in the final outcome. One person's story here.

As we age, we lose strength and are more likely to develop medical conditions that can affect how well and how long we live. Medical conditions such as:

• Immune deficiencies

• Respiratory conditions

• Diabetes

• Heart disease

• Hypertension

• Obesity

• Frailty

These conditions decrease our chances of surviving bouts of illness. Medications, diet, and life-style changes are vital in addressing those conditions. Exercise, specifically high intensity training, can also positively affect those conditions.

Done correctly high intensity training (HIT) safely imposes demands on the body.  As a form of self-protection the musculoskeletal system, neurological system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, and endocrine system adapt making those systems stronger. A result of those adaptations is that you will be better able to combat sickness. The changes HIT can produce:

• “Acute exercise (moderate-to-vigorous intensity), less than 60 minutes is now viewed as an important immune system adjuvant to stimulate the ongoing exchange of distinct and highly active immune cell sub-types between the circulation and tissues.”1 Translation: It’s good for your immune system.  

• Increased respiratory volume to the degree that your doctor might even describe the improvement as remarkable.

• Reduced loss in heart function caused by type 2 diabetes.  One of our clients at our Austin Personal Training facility went from taking  five insulin shots a day down to one.  

• Increased nitric oxide availability which causes the blood vessels to dilate and lowers blood pressure.

• Increased strength along with a higher resting metabolism.  Dieting tends to lower one's metabolism. Proper diet and a higher resting metabolism is the formula for effective fat loss. 

Anyone of any age can do HIT. It is not predicated on how much exercise you can tolerate but how much is needed to produce a positive change. It takes about 30 minutes a week.  Each week you do a little more than you are used to handling.  Then let your body recover to come back stronger the next week. Over time those cumulative improvements will facilitate a longer active life along with enhanced resistance to injury and sickness.  
1 The compelling link between physical activity and the body's defense system

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No time to exercise? Then make more time for illness and injury.

If you do not make time for exercise now, eventually your time will be spent on illness and injury. Inactivity has the potential to lead to a long list of life-compromising health complications. Much of this could be avoided with a small amount of strength training each week.

Most people get a gym membership, tell themselves they will workout two or three times a week and “Get In Shape!”  In the end, they accrue monthly credit card charges and long periods of discouraging inactivity.

A better approach, find an exercise program that does not consume lots of your time – one you can stick to.  At our Austin Strength Trainers facility our workouts address all aspects of fitness and are specifically designed for the highest marginal return for minimal time in the gym. It takes 30 minutes once a week.

Each weekly session your trainer will have you do a little bit more than you are used to handling.  Then rest, recover, improve, and repeat the next week. It comes out to about 25 hours of exercise a year.  Add to that an activity you enjoy, and you will have a plan you can stick to.  

Years from now you will be stronger, healthier, and still exercising. Then again, you could do nothing and your body will deteriorate to the point where exercise is no longer an option.