Getting to your target heart rate with resistance training

The client was 58 and very fit. She was wearing a pulse meter on her wrist. Ninety seconds into the workout her pulse was 148 which is approaching her maximum for a person her age.

One method of determining one’s maximum heart rate is to subtract one’s age from 220 bpm. Using this method this client’s maximum heart rate would be 162 bpm.

We began the workout with the leg press using a heavy weight and slow initial movements. The leg press involves large muscle groups and can get one’s heart rate up in short order. The slow starts minimize force associated with injury and allow one to warm up safely with the heavier weights. The warm up is in effect incorporated in to the first set using a challenging weight. After a minute she was breathing hard and I told her to move faster. At this point her muscles were warmed up and appreciably weaker. Warmed-up weaker muscles are unlikely to generate enough force to cause injury as long as good form is maintained. Her attempts to move fast did not amount to much at that point in the set, but it did allow her to keep moving and achieve a deeper fatigue.

One of the goals or strength training is to expose the muscles to more work that they are used to handling. Performing a set in the manner can safely achieve that end. In most instances there is really no need to sap one’s energy to do a duplicate set. Effort, energy, and concentration can be devoted to the next exercise or muscle group.

Upon completion of the set she quickly moved on to the next exercise. Everything is pre-set; there is no need to dawdle. There is often a lot of standing around in a gym. Often times there is more time resting between sets than there is actually exercising. Not so with High Intensity Interval Training, HIIT. This is the type of training we do at both of our facilities -New Orleans Fitness Training and PersonalTraining in Austin.

As self protection the body adapts to the demands placed on it if given adequate time to recover. In her case she came back stronger and more able to withstand the sustained cardio demands. People of any age can do this workout and can build up to at their own pace. Our oldest client is 93 years old.

More information on the subject of cardio and strength training:

Cardio, anaerobic, and aerobic exercise explained

Blog entries regarding the heart healthy benefits of strength training

Strength training for seniors - yes

The results from this study Once-weekly resistance exercise improves muscle strength and neuromuscular performance in older adults:

" A program of once or twice weekly resistance exercise achieves muscle strength gains similar to 3 days per week training in older adults and is associated with improved neuromuscular performance. Such improvement
could potentially reduce the risk of falls and fracture in older adults".

People of any age can become stronger, but it is the seniors who stand the most to gain. The personal training sessions conducted by the personal trainers at Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainerswas derived from a study working with osteoporosis patients. Researchers found that joints hurt less, bone density increased and muscles were stronger and more toned with minimal time exercising. This type of personal training has been shown effective for men and women of all ages.

Past blog entries related to anti-aging.

The health benefits of interval training - one study

A recent New York Times article How 1-Minute Intervals Can Improve Your Health reported on the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). The subjects exercised on a stationary bike. There were two groups of subjects, unfit subjects and cardiac patients Plus a control group. The results:

"Despite the small time commitment of this modified HIIT program, after several weeks of practicing it, both the unfit volunteers and the cardiac patients showed significant improvements in their health and fitness.

The results, published in a recent review of HIIT-related research, were especially remarkable in the cardiac patients. They showed “significant improvements” in the functioning of their blood vessels and heart, said Maureen MacDonald, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster who is leading the ongoing experiment."

Also noted were the benefits demonstrated in earlier studies:

“In unfit but otherwise healthy middle-aged adults, two weeks of modified HIIT training prompted the creation of far more cellular proteins involved in energy production and oxygen. The training also improved the volunteers’ insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation, lowering their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published last fall in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.”

The researcher concludes: “It’s very potent exercise,” Dr. Gibala said. “And then, very quickly, it’s done.”

HIIT using strength training exercises is the type of training we do at New Orleans Personal Trainers at Austin Fitness Trainers.

Past blog entries about cardio health and HIIT

What clients are saying

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. Edward Stanley (1873)

Two people who have decided not to give in to the infirmities of age:

“A year ago at this time I was experiencing frequent bouts of aches and pains in my neck, shoulders, and back. I figured it was just part of growing older. Since I started strength training last January, these problems have gone away. Amazing!” - Bill Milliken

“After only five weeks on the program, I improved my military reserve fitness scores by two levels, achieving one of my best scores ever at age 50. I’m making gains in muscular development faster than any other program I have tried over the years. The mental discipline of this program carries over to day to day life. Anyone who has not experienced the results they wanted from a gym membership or home training owes it to themselves to give this method a try. You won’t regret it.” - David Savoie, CPA

Bill trains at Austin TX Personal Training, and David trains at New Orleans Personal Trainers.

It does not take much time. Your investment in time spent exercising will far exceed the costs associated with not exercising – injury, illness or declining abilities. Our program is one that people can stick to for life - a life where one feels better, looks better, is free to enjoy life more without endless hours in the gym.

A little strength training, an active lifestyle, and better eating choices can have profound effects on one's fitness and health. These changes do not require endless hours in the weight room. Our fitness trainers can guide you through an effective strength training program that will take less than an hour a week and achieve significant results.

Others who have achieved significant results: 

1. I love this workout

2. I saw a remarkable change in my body

3. A Radical Transformation

4. I don’t think I would be alive today

5. I was in tears walking on the Great Wall of China 

6. Seems too good to be true, but it actually is that good

7. After each session, I always felt better on all levels.

8. This would not have happened to me if I had a personal trainer

9.My doctor said it would not be necessary to start taking drugs to preserve my bone density

10. Amazing and remarkable

11. Under no circumstances stop exercising because that is what is keeping you going

52 weeks and a new lease on life

Every new year we have great expectations of improvement in our well-being, but few achieve those improvements. One man did:

At 72 years old Marcus was slowing down; he could no longer play golf every day. He could play nine holes but lacked the stamina to pay eighteen holes. He began strength training at New Orleans Personal Trainers(our other location – Austin Fitness Trainers). He strength trained for about 30 minutes once a week for a year.

A year later Marcus would play 18 holes of golf, and the next day he would play 18 holes again. He was hitting the ball farther and enjoying golf again. Marcus had added quality years to his life, and it took just 30 minutes a week.

Marcus had increased stamina, flexibility, strength, and very importantly added protection from injury. He was playing a hell of a lot more golf creating a virtuous cycle of increasing well-being.

52 weeks of continuous improvement add up. Every time Marcus exercised he would do a little more. Each week he gave himself ample time to recover, and because of that, each week he would continuously improve. 

Significant strength increases occur exercising as little as once a week IF it's the right exercise program. A properly designed high intensity strength training program starts with the premise of not seeing how much exercise one can withstand but with just how little one can get away with doing and still have significant results.

Loss of strength ultimately leads to life compromising conditions such as arthritis, type-2 diabetes, herniated discs, osteoporosis, weight gain, and heart disease. Of all the bio-markers of aging the most important is the loss of strength. Strength training is by far the most effective exercise in addressing the bio-markers of aging that effect not only how young we look, but more importantly, how we young we feel. People aren't put in nursing homes because they're out of breath; it's because they're too weak.

Our program is one that people can stick to for life - a life where one feels better, looks better, is free to enjoy life more without endless hours in the gym. Is it worth 30 minutes of week? We think that it is.

Sometimes it not as simple as eating less and exercising more

Sometimes you can’t win for losing. One study found that those who eat less often are more likely to be overweight. Researchers found that:

“on average, the normal weight subjects ate three meals and a little over two snacks each day, whereas the overweight group averaged three meals and just over one snack a day”.

Overweight people who have lost significant amounts of weight tend to gain it back and gain it back quickly. These people experience a slowing metabolism and hormonal changes that increase their appetites. Perhaps if you can just persist and keep the weight off over the longer term, say a year, you’d be more likely to keep it off.

According to another study that unfortunately that does not appear to be the case. The discouraging result after a year of maintaining weight loss:

A year later, the researchers found that the participants’ metabolism and hormone levels had not returned to the levels before the study started.

Another quote:

The results show, once again, Dr. Leibel said, that losing weight “is not a neutral event,” and that it is no accident that more than 90 percent of people who lose a lot of weight gain it back. “You are putting your body into a circumstance it will resist,” he said. “You are, in a sense, more metabolically normal when you are at a higher body weight."

Instead of enduring the restrictions of a diet only to gain it back, start an eating plan you know you can stick to. Add a little bit of HIT strength training that burtns calories at a very high rate and live an active healthy life style. This is something that is doable for most people.

HIT is the type of fitness training we do at Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Fitness Training.

Diagnosed with osteopenia at age 43 - 22 years later osteopenia free

Carole was diagnosed with osteopenia at age 43. Her most recent bone scan, 22 years later showed no osteopenia. It is the nature of osteopenia to progress to osteoporosis; Carole certainly does not fit the mold.

While there is no cure for osteopenia, strength training has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment. Treatments can slow, or temporarily stop or reverse symptoms – in Carole’s case dramatically so.

Carole is a client who has been working out at our Austin facility for five years. Carole has significant scoliosis, and her past attempts to do weight bearing exercise invariably resulted in injury to her back. When she started our program she was living with daily back pain. She was able to do our program without further injury and her back pain soon disappeared. We use primarily MedX rehabilitation exercise equipment and an protocol that is gentler on the joints.

A little strength training, an active lifestyle, and better eating choices can have profound effects on one's fitness and health. These changes do not require endless hours in the weight room. Our fitness trainers at Austin TX Personal Training and at New Orleans Personal Trainers can guide you through an effective strength training program that will take less than an hour a week and achieve significant results.

Others who have achieved significant results: 

1. This affects all aspects of my life.

2. I saw a remarkable change in my body

3. A Radical Transformation

4. I don’t think I would be alive today

5. Seems too good to be true, but it actually is that good

6. After each session, I always felt better on all levels.

7. This would not have happened to me if I had a personal trainer

8.My doctor said it would not be necessary to start taking drugs to preserve my bone density

9. Amazing and remarkable

10. Under no circumstances stop exercising because that is what is keeping you going

11. I was in tears walking on the Great Wall of China

12. I love this workout

What is E.P.O.C?

The Wikipedia definition of EPOC : “Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is a measurably increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity.”

Anaerobic exercise increases EPOC more than aerobic exercise does. Resistance exercise (strength training) is primarily anaerobic. Circuit resistance training produces the largest EPOC response.

According to Murphy, E. and Swartzkopf, R. 1992 (Effects of standard set and circuit weight training on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Journal of Applied Sport Science Research, 6(2), 88-91), circuit resistance training produces a larger EPOC response compared to the standard resistance training. At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Training circuit resistance training is one of protocols we use. 

Our aim is to safely increase exercise intensity over a period of weeks. We work muscles to a deep fatigue and then quickly moving to the next exercise. Each individual will go to an intensity level that will be appropriate for them, one the person feels she or he can reasonably handle. We will gradually increase the amount of weight lifted and at the same time, lessen the time between exercises. No time is wasted. 

You will be surprised how hard you will be breathing after such a workout. Such a personal training session will not take long, about 20 to 25 minutes. You will increase strength, flexibility, tone, muscle, cardiovascular ability, and produce a larger EPOC response – you will burn more calories during and after the workout. This is an efficient workout, as it affects so many factors of good health in such a short amount of time. If you don’t have time to exercise or if you hate exercise but know you have to do it this is the type of exercise that produces the most bang with minimal time in the gym.

MedX low back exercise

Arthur Jones the founder of MedX and Nautilus is said to have spent 100 million dollars on the development of the MedX low back machine. Arthur said that if everything in his life up to that point were evil this exercise machine more than made up for it. As one who has suffered serious back injuries I can attest to the positive results. Studies report amazing results, and our clients have benefited. 

Some of the advantages the MedX low back machine:

· The range of motion can be precisely confined to a pain-free range of motion.

· The resistance is variable – it becomes lighter in the part of the range of motion where you are weakest. This makes for a much safer exercise.

· The exercise can be performed through a full range of motion that supplies resistance even at the full contraction.

· Resistance is always at a 90 degree angle to the back regardless of where you are in the range of motion. There are no compression forces on the vertebrae. When you are in the finished position of a dead lift there are compression forces.

· The knees and hips constrained so that the lumbar is isolated and must do the work.

As we age we become less flexible. The lumbar becomes increasingly inflexible leaving muscles supporting the hips and knee to do much of the work. This machine done properly will give you more flexibility and strength plus an added measure of protection from back injuries. You’ll less likely have chronic back pain with strong flexible back muscles. 

You are not likely to find this equipment in most health clubs. We have extensive lines of MedX equipment at both of our locations: New Orleans Fitness Trainers and Austin Personal Training.

Making the weights heavier after time off from exercising

A client said, “You goofing on me; these weights are lighter”.

I replied, “No they are actually heavier”. I then showed him the recorded weights from our last workout. I had increased the weights since his last workout. He had gone on a cruise and was out for more than two weeks. 
He came back and fully expected to be weaker, as he had not workout in some time. He came back rested and the workout with the heavier weights was almost easy.

Once you have committed to an exercise program for an extended period taking a few weeks off can be a very good thing. How much rest is enough and how much is too much? If you are fully recovered and your body has overcompensated you come back stronger. The amount of time it
takes will vary by individual. Through trial and error you can eventually find
out what works. I spent years figuring it out; I was slow to learn that I would come back stronger after time off. At Austin TX Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers our personal trainers have developed a high intensity training program (HIT) with special attention paid to
recovery to insure that the improvements are ongoing – our business depends on it. We cannot afford to have clients come in and ruin two workouts in a row by not being adequately recovered.

Related post:
How To Ruin Two Workouts

Does added muscle burn significant calories

Does adding a pound of muscle burn the often-quoted number of 50 calories a day? The 50-calorie-a-day number can’t be true if one makes the assumption that the muscle tissue you all ready had before adding that pound of muscle will produce the same calorie burn - i.e. all lean muscle tissue consumes 50 calories a day. A 155 pound man with 62 pounds of skeletal muscle would have to consume 3100 calories each day just to support his muscles.

A more reasonable assumption is that strength training will results in an increase in resting metabolism for existing muscle plus and an additional increase in metabolism for new muscle. From the article examining two studies Why The Confusion on Muscle and Metabolism? Wayne Wescott concludes:

Strength training does have a significant elevating effect on resting metabolic rate, and is therefore a highly beneficial exercise for increasing daily calorie utilization and enhancing fat loss. It would appear that the metabolic increase occurs in all of the strength trained muscle tissue, and that the additional energy utilization may be about 1.5 calories per pound of muscle per day.

The stats from the studies examined:

A standard three-month strength training program may produce the following effects in previously sedentary adults and seniors:

1. Increase overall resting metabolism by
about 7 percent.
2. Increase lean (muscle) weight by about 3 pounds.
3. Increase daily resting metabolic rate in all of the trained muscle by about
1.5 calories per pound (from 5.7 calories per pound to 7.2 calories per pound).

Interestingly both studies were conducted using brief, intense 30 minute workouts of the type we use at our facilities- Austin Personal Trainers andNew Orleans Personal Training. With strength training you burn calories four ways:

1. Added muscle burns additional calories.

2. Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) - recovery and rebuilding muscle as a result of the workout

3. The workout itself.

4. Existing muscle regularly trained will experience an increase in tone and an increase in resting metabolism.

Strength training is something one might want to consider if one is embarking on a weight loss program. Not only will stronger people burn more calories at rest, people who are stronger can engage in more activities and do them for longer periods with less chance of injury creating a beneficial cycle of fat burning. For those will little free time you might want to consider high intensity strength training. For time spent nothing burns more calories than high intensity strength training - nothing. One study examining the effect of high intensity strength training on metabolism showed a nine-fold improvement in fat burning.

The value of strength training

From this Reader’s Digest article, The Importance of Strength Training:

The consensus is growing: Strong muscles are good for everyone. In fact, the American Heart Association now recommends that all adults strength train their major muscle groups at least twice a week.

The benefits mentioned in the article:

Strong muscles require active living.
More strength results in more protection for your joints and your back.
Improve your looks with strnger muscles.
Strong muscles help you lose weight
Strong muscles give you a mental boost.

Strong muscles are healthy for your heart

Strong muscles help fight free radicals

At New Orleans Fitness Training and at Austin Personal Training and we employ a high intensity interval training (HIIT) that addresses more of thebio-markers of aging than any other training protocol.

Lowering Blood Sugar with High Intensity Interval Training

From this article The Brief Way to Better Blood Sugar: 

Men in a small study who added short, intense bursts of activity to mini workouts seemed better able to metabolize sugars.

When the men were given the equivalent of a meal's worth of glucose at the end of the study, their bodies metabolized it better than before the study.

Researchers suspect that bursts of intensity during workouts elicit stronger contractions and therefore more glucose uptake in the large muscles attached to bones.

The high intensity interval training in this study was performed on exercise bikes. High intensity interval training can also be incorporating into strength training - perform a series of high intensity strength training exercises will little rest between the exercises.

This form high intensity interval strength training produces more Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) than any other form of exercise. This is the type of personal training we do at Kelly's
Austin Personal Training in and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers.

The heart benefits of weight training

The results From this study Get Heart Healthy by Lifting Weights :

Resistance training is more beneficial than many believe," says lead researcher, Dr. Scott R. Collier. The resistance exercises produced a different pattern of blood vessel responses than the aerobic exercise, suggesting that the former may have important and unique benefits for cardiovascular health. The resistance exercise produced greater increases in blood flow to the limbs—even though it also caused small increases in central arterial stiffness. In contrast, aerobic exercise decreased arterial stiffness—but without an increase in blood flow.

Resistance exercise also led to a longer-lasting drop in blood pressure (as much as 20 percent) after exercise, compared to aerobic exercise.

High Intensity Interval Training HIIT utilizing strength training exercises is the type of training we do at Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Training. The demanding work strengthens muscles, and it heart health as well.

Past blog entries dealing wht the heart health benefits of strength training:

1. The Heart Can Benefit From Brief Intense Exercise

2. Conventional wisdom and the benefits of strength training for cardiovascular health and weight loss

3. Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit The Heart

4. High-intensity exercise better at improving metabolic syndrome risk factors

Less intense exercise can be better – two observations.

Some trainees want to go all out every time. Some trainees think they are going all out. They really haven’t revved up their engines as high as they think they have, but that is another matter. For those who like to go all out it is a good thing for awhile. After a time the most hardened trainee will suffer from burnout or become over-trained.

A good trainer will anticipate the burnout or the over-training and make pro-active adjustments for the trainee. Sometimes as trainers we miss the cues and have to make adjustments after the fact. I had one client who absolutely loved the workouts and trained very hard. He then became sporadic in his attendance. I asked him about it. He told me no longer looked forward to the sessions and would look for a reason to stay late at work so that he could avoid an appointment. Lesson learned; we made adjustments. We did not go hard every time after that. When we did he was really up for it.

I had driven woman who swam hard three times a week at 6:30 in the morning in addition to her training with me. When she first started training with me she improved steadily. The improvement soon diminished, and then it stopped. I had raised her weight on the leg press just two pounds. With great difficulty she managed 60 seconds of exercise, not the usual 90 to 120 seconds. I had her take a week off. We avoided the leg press for a while, and we did a few moderate workouts. After five weeks we went back to the leg press. I was anxious to see what would happen after five weeks of not doing the leg press. For her the weight almost felt easy, and she did the exercise a minute longer than her previous effort – she had doubled her time on an exercise that had crushingly defeated her the last time out.

Had I not had her rest and told her to fight through that plateau she would be forever stuck at the same weight on the leg press. From that point on we trained on the leg press less often and her improvement continued unabated.

Everyone has a different capacity for demanding exercise, just as some people can tolerate more time in the sun before burning. As trainers we make inferences concerning a client’s ability to recover and improve from exercise primarily by monitoring a client’s improvement or lack thereof. With experience we get it right most of the time.

Through trial and error you can eventually find out what works. At Austin TX Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers our personal trainers have developed a high intensity training program (HIT) with special attention paid to recovery to insure that the improvements are ongoing – our business depends on it.

Related post:
How To Ruin Two Workouts

Less frequent exercise can be better - a personal experience

When I first began lifting weights I worked out every other day - Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday - repeat - and I never missed for five straight months.  The sessions were with a personal trainer, and accurate records were kept.

Soon my progress stopped. I was particularly stuck with bicep curls just barely achieving eight reps each time for five months. Twice during that time I got nine reps on that one exercise; I likened it to a religious experience – achieving beyond the realm of normal.  The workouts during this time were grueling, as I was hell bent on breaking through a plateau.

I went home for Christmas.  It had been more than a week since my last workout when I found a health club with the very same line of equipment I had been using. I thought surely I would be weaker. I was shocked to find that I was stronger. On the bicep curls I got eleven reps, not the usual eight. I had no explanation for it. I concluded that it must be that the equipment was better oiled. I was not ready to accept that less can be better.

The positive adaptation resulting from strength training involves a structural change - the rebuilding of muscle. For most that involves several days to be fully recovered. Think how long it takes an injury to totally heal. Some go back to the gym before being fully recovered and as a result make minimal progress. Some repeat this mistake for years. I was one of them. 

On the other hand, the positive adaptation as a result of aerobic activity is primarily a bio-chemical change - the body up-regulates its ability to burn sugar for an extended time. The recovery period is short - hence running can be done with greater frequency.

After much trial and error I eventually figured it out. There are those for whom two or three times a week might be appropriate; I was not one of them. I came to realize that we all improve in the beginning at two or three times a week because we are learning a skill, and that must account for some of the improvement.  Also, in the beginning we are not yet taxing our bodies as much as when we work up to higher intensities, and as such require less recovery time. When I cut back my workouts improvement was almost easy. Had I not figured it out I would have quit never to return to the weight room again. I think this is the experience of many in the weight room.

People have different tolerance for exposure to sunlight before getting burnt. The same applies for exercise; everyone has a different capacity for exercise and ability to recover from that exercise. As trainers at first we don’t know what the individual’s rate of recovery from a workout is, but we quickly infer it by seeing the progress or sometimes the lack of it. From those inferences an experienced personal trainer can gage the frequency, intensity, and duration of the training sessions to keep progressing.

When I finally did cut back and started to improve again I had more enthusiasm, focus, and I actually did work even harder. That will happen when you are seeing improvement for your efforts, and you will be more likely to stick to it.

You can get more out of exercising less with High Intensity Interval Training. We use HIIT at both our locations - New Orleans Fitness Training and Austin Fitness Training.

Related posts:
High intensity exercise and recovery - how much is enough?
Strength Training: 67 Percent Improvement in 28 days

How To Ruin Two Workouts

Lowering metabolic syndrome risk factors, which type of exercise is most effective?

A study designed to test the efficacy of exercise in lowering metabolic risk factors consisted of three groups.  One group used a less-intense regimen called “moderate continuous-training” (CME). Another group did not exercise, and the third group used a high-intensity aerobic-interval training for four months.
From this article High-intensity exercise better at improving metabolic syndrome risk factors the results:

“• Short bursts of high-intensity exercise, rather than longer spells of moderate-intensity, exercise may improve the health of people with metabolic syndrome.

 • Once previously sedentary people with metabolic syndrome can comfortably exercise at a moderate intensity, they could consider more vigorous exercise, if they can do it without adverse symptoms, according to American Heart Association spokesperson.”

This study involved high-intensity aerobic-interval training. For more bang for you time one can obtain the positive heart benefits, have a positive effect on your metabolism, and also increase strength at the same time with high intensity interval strength training. High intensity interval strength training can increase metabolism four ways.

The type of strength training we do at New Orleans Fitness Trainers and atAustin Fitness Trainers is high intensity interval training (HIIT). It is a full body workout where a series of strength training exercises are performed with little rest between the exercises.  Strength training has more to offer than stronger muscles and bones; it is a heart healthy and beneficial to your metabolism as well.

The Heart Can Benefit From Brief Intense Exercise

From this Science daily article Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit The Heart, Study Shows:

"More and more, professional organizations are recommending interval training during rehabilitation from diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular disease. Our research certainly provides evidence that this type of exercise training is as effective as traditional moderate intensity training," says MacDonald. "We wouldn't be surprised to see more rehabilitation programs adopt this method of training since it is often better tolerated in diseased populations".

Six weeks of intense sprint interval exercise training improves the structure and function of arteries as much as traditional and longer endurance exercise with larger time commitment.

Short bursts of high intensity sprints--known to benefit muscle and improve exercise performance--can improve the function and structure of blood vessels, in particular arteries that deliver blood to our muscles and heart.

This type of training mentioned in the article is called high intensity interval training (HIIT). With HIIT you really can get more out of exercising less. This training can be incorporated into strength training sessions as well. HIIT is the type of strength training we do at both of our facilities: New Orleans Fitness Trainers and Austin Fitness Trainers.

Some of the benefits associated with high intensity interval strength training beside a healthy heart are:

Improves athletic performance
Increases metabolism
Preserves bone density
Lowers anxiety
A Ninefold Improvement in Fat Burning
Improves cognitive development

Don't hang up those cleats just yet

At 78 years of age Jack had few golfers his age to golf with. His friend Marcus was 73 and about ready to hang up his cleats for good. Marcus could play nine holes and that was about it; the next day he’d be too rundown to play again. Jack insisted that Marcus start doing the strength training program Jack had been doing for years. Jack said, "Anybody can stick to one half hour a week. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain."

A year later Marcus was playing 18 holes of golf, and the next day, he would play 18 holes again. He was hitting the ball farther and enjoying golf again. Marcus had added quality years to his life, and it took just minutes a week.

Every time Marcus exercised he would do a little more. Each week he gave himself ample time to recover, and because of that each week he would improve.  52 weeks of continuing improvement add up.

Strength training is by far the most effective exercise in addressing the bio-markers of aging that effect not only how young we look, but more importantly, how we young we feel. Loss of strength ultimately leads to life compromising conditions such as osteoporosis, arthritis, herniated discs, type-2 diabetes, weight gain, and heart disease. People aren't put in nursing homes because they're out of breath; it's because they're too weak.

The strength training programs at Austin TX Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training start with the premise of not seeing how much exercise one can withstand but with just how little one can get away with doing and still have significant results. There is no magic bullet; the exercise will be demanding, but such a program will be brief, efficient, produce significant strength increases, and be one that people will stick to for life - a life where one looks better, feels better, and is free to enjoy life more without endless hours in the gym.

The many benefits of strength training

From this LA Times article Strength training does more than bulk up muscles:

A growing body of research shows that working out with weights has health benefits beyond simply bulking up one's muscles and strengthening bones. Studies are finding that more lean muscle mass may allow kidney dialysis patients to live longer, give older people better cognitive function, reduce depression, boost good cholesterol, lessen the swelling and discomfort of lymphedema after breast cancer and help lower the risk of diabetes.

"Muscle is our largest metabolically active organ, and that's the backdrop that people usually forget," said Kent Adams, director of the exercise physiology lab at Cal State Monterey Bay. Strengthening the muscles "has a ripple effect throughout the body on things like metabolic syndrome andobesity."

The list of benefits of strength training for any age is long.

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Austin TX Personal Training
New Orleans Personal Training