Thread by @Mangan150

Resistance training, aka strength training or lifting weights

Crucial for health and aging well.

Why?

Thread 👇

Resistance training builds muscle, and muscle is an underappreciated factor in health

"altered muscle metabolism plays a key role in the genesis, and therefore the prevention, of many common pathologic conditions and chronic diseases"

academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/8…

Aging is associated with loss of muscle.

Use it or lose it.

A large portion of the decline in cardiovascular fitness (VO2max) with age can be attributed to muscle loss. journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.115…

Muscle loss leads to ill health.

By the time someone is 80 years old, they can have lost fully half the muscle mass they had when young.

When this reaches an extreme, sarcopenia, or pathological loss of muscle, is the result.

This is common in the elderly.

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Resistance training increases muscle mass and strength, and reverses aging in human skeletal muscle.

More muscle means lower death rates. journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

Resistance training is more effective than endurance training for improving insulin sensitivity and body composition.

Resistance training is just much harder and produces a higher level of metabolic stress.

Intensity trumps volume.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Resistance training improves NAFLD, without even changing diet.

Add low-carb and miracles could happen.
gut.bmj.com/content/60/9/1…

A single bout of resistance training induced rapid clearance of senescent cells in muscle.

Resistance training is anti-aging.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29953414/

Resistance training should be considered mandatory for fat loss, since it preserves muscle that otherwise will be lost.

Resistance training has huge health benefits, including preventing disabilities, and decreasing risk of heart disease and cancer.

"virtually all the benefits of resistance training are likely to be obtained in two 15- to 20-min training sessions a week."
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Resistance training is as effective as aerobic for lowering disease risk, and superior for building muscle.

But a substantial barrier to greater adoption of RT is complex, difficult-to-follow regimes, which are not necessary.

Simple is better
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Resistance training need not be complex or take a lot of time.

No time excuse. It only takes 40-60 minutes a week in most cases.

Despite what many people believe, properly performed resistance training robustly increases cardiovascular fitness.

In summary, resistance training increases muscle mass and strength, and in doing so can slow or reverse aging, improve insulin sensitivity, treat metabolic ill health, and preserve muscle during fat loss.

Resistance training need not be complex or time-consuming.

But proper resistance training IS difficult.

It requires hard work and intensity, which is one reason so few people do it.

But it should be considered mandatory for good health.