Don't let time make you old. Strength training is necessary for anti-aging

"Strength training is essential in the anti-aging/health promotion system!"

Muscle strength and physical training can only be achieved through long-term accumulation. There is no shortcut or way to do it. It cannot be done in a few minutes, a few days or even a few weeks, but the growth rate is huge! From an academic perspective, strength training is "using a progressive overload pattern to apply pressure to the natural movements of the human body."

Natural human movement

The natural movements of the human body are not necessarily "movements that occur frequently". In fact, natural movements are "complete movements that the human body's functions and structures can achieve." The natural movements of the human body can be roughly divided into horizontal pushing/pulling of the upper limbs, vertical pushing/pulling of the upper limbs, and pushing, pulling, turning and walking of the lower limbs. For example: a child can usually perform a perfect squat, but an adult's daily life (sitting for a long time, crossing their legs or wearing high heels, etc.) has contaminated them and they have lost the ability to perform the natural movement.

Body control ability

There is a sequence to muscle strength training. First, you need to regain control of your body; correct the wrong movements first, and then follow the progressive overload mode with the correct movements, with the goal of increasing maximum muscle strength!

How to take back control of your body? According to the Monster Training "Action Learning Flowchart": the four basics of basic movement range, local muscle strength, posture stability and movement stability must be handled first, and then under the natural movement of the human body, the weight must be increased, accelerated and integrated, and then enter into daily movements/tactical movements/competitive movements. There is an important concept here: "the previous steps can pave the way for the later steps", but "it is difficult for the later steps to correct the previous mistakes."

Maximum muscle strength

Why is maximum muscle strength so important? Maximum muscle strength is related to explosive power, speed, agility, endurance, technique, and anti-aging. As long as a person is strong enough, no matter what sport he or she plays, he or she can reduce the risk of injury and it will be easier for him or her to reach the top in his or her specific sport! (Running, cycling, basketball, tennis, table tennis, boxing, weightlifting, etc. are all classified as special sports)

1. "Explosive power": determined by two elements: strength and speed. Explosive power = strength x speed. Because muscle contraction speed has an upper limit, in order to improve explosive power, muscle strength with significant growth potential is absolutely indispensable.

2. "Agility": Agility must be built up with strength, because if one's own strength cannot support the body weight (for example: a patient who has been bedridden for a long time), there will be no agility.

3. "Endurance": Endurance is the process of continuously exerting muscle strength under fatigue. (Strong people are less likely to get injured when they are tired.)

4. "Technology": Technology cannot be independent of maximum muscle strength. People with strong muscles can naturally accept more technical training. For example, if a tennis player keeps practicing his racket swing technique without strengthening his muscle strength at the same time, no matter how much he practices, he will not be able to improve his athletic performance.

5. "Anti-aging": When entering middle-aged and elderly stages, almost everyone will face the threat of osteoporosis/osteopenia and sarcopenia. Through muscle strength training, muscle and bone loss can be slowed down.

Holistic Assessment

How to start strength training? Four words: "whole-person assessment." Everything still comes back to "this person", whether this person is an Olympic athlete, a professional athlete, an amateur athlete, a school team player, an office worker, a housewife, a teenager, or even a person with a disease (special group), only a comprehensive assessment can arrange appropriate training.

1. "Analyze movement control ability": Do not put pressure on problematic movements; if there are problems with the movements of the exercise, the risk of injury will increase in the long run. (Why is it that even though there are problems with the movements, I have never been injured? In fact, part of the reason is that the intensity of the exercise is not strong enough...)

2. "Analyze the athlete's level": Level analysis mainly refers to the years of experience in strength training, as well as strength level, strength balance, adaptability, strengths and weaknesses analysis, etc. The athlete's current muscle strength level determines how the training cycle should be arranged, how long the recovery time should be, etc.

3. "Analyze muscle strength balance": Imbalance in muscle strength will affect movement control ability! Balanced development of muscle strength can not only improve athletic performance, but also prevent sports injuries.

4. "Analysis task": muscle strength form + strengths and weaknesses analysis; in other words, to assess whether the muscle strength is sufficient to sustain activities or even perform specialized sports. The purpose of strength training is not to make a person very strong or to turn him into a weightlifter. The goal is to "improve a person's athletic ability". If you are not strong enough, don't even think about doing a specialized sport. For example: table tennis requires three joints of the lower limbs and lateral explosive power, while sprinting emphasizes three joints of the lower limbs and longitudinal explosive power.

5. "Analyze the energy system": Energy system training is the so-called physical training; it mainly studies how the human body uses the energy it carries to support the needs of intense muscle movement. The energy system can be divided into ATP-CP system, lactic acid system, and aerobic system. In addition to different energy supply efficiencies, the three systems also have different contributions at different exercise intensities (i.e. different levels of intensity). In terms of energy supply efficiency, the ATP-CP system has the highest energy supply efficiency, but it lasts for a short time, only a few seconds. The lactic acid system is second most efficient, and the aerobic system is relatively inefficient, but can last for a long time.

Training options

Which exercises should I choose for strength training? Choose the corresponding training action according to individual situation. For example, push-ups train both control and muscle strength, but the emphasis is more on control; whereas bench presses focus more on strengthening muscle strength.

The human body is very complex. The strength training menus for beginners and advanced users are different, and those with medical conditions also need to be customized. Basically, beginners will make progress no matter how they train (the honeymoon period, provided they don't get injured), and the risk of injury is relatively low at this stage; for advanced trainers, the intensity of training increases, the rate of progress slows down, and the risk of injury may be higher.

Summary: The movements of strength training are actually the natural movements of the human body; through training, we will learn "how to generate strength" and "how to control strength". In order to prevent aging from taking over our bodies, we need to keep training to fight aging and keep our bodies strong.

Reference: Monster training

This article comes from: Ye Junyuan's Healthy Factory

※Reference for this article: Monster training ※For more information, please visit "Dr. Ye Junjuan's Blog"