Through no fault of our own, frailty and weakness often becomes a lifestyle choice, though most people unknowingly make that choice. The choice is made “unknowingly” because society has given us no other meaningful option. The healthcare system, encompassing physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmaceutical companies, and various elder care institutions, operates primarily on a for-profit basis. The system is in business to treat, not cure, frailty and weakness. With no real profit motive to reverse frailty and weakness as we age, we’re left to fend for ourselves, to find a method to reverse this inevitable trend.
Frailty and elder weakness are quiet and stealthy, showing itself in our mid-sixties and progressively taking a bigger toll on our body as the years pass. It’s not a lingering sickness or an acute injury that sounds an alarm to warn us of its presence. It is just that, one day, we approach a point where we must take action.
As an elderly person myself, I experienced the loss of strength as I became older. I had to give myself permission to be strong again. Then I had to find a way to become stronger.
Muscle Types
To enumerate the misconception that aging people have regarding regaining their strength, we must understand that our bodies have two muscle types: Type I and Type II. Type I muscles are our slow-twitch muscles. Type I muscles are used primarily for walking, running, sitting and standing upright. They are the muscles that are used during most of our waking hours. Type I muscles are slow burners, meaning that, by design, they burn the fewest calories as they are used the most and it is our body’s way of conserving energy. Daily walks or moderate activity is all that is needed to keep our slow twitch muscles in good working order.
Type II, or fast twitch, muscles are our power-driven muscles. They are designed to meet our strength needs required for actions such as pulling, pushing, lifting and squatting. Type II fast twitch muscles are totally disengaged whenever our body is involved in aerobic exercises such as jogging or walking/running. Type II fast twitch muscles require an inordinate amount of calories, both at rest and during periods of exertion. The only way of growing and/or maintaining Type II muscles is through coordinated exercise such as a scheduled weight-lifting program. I emphasize that this is the only way. Nothing else will work for you.
Without a scheduled weight-lifting program our muscles are designed to wither as we age, again in the body’s interest of conserving energy, and that is how we become frail.
A quick explanation of the differences between aerobic and anaerobic exercises.
Aerobic exercises are low intensity, long duration exercises, like jogging and walking, that require oxygen for sustained movement. Aerobic exercises are used to promote a healthier cardiovascular system.
Anaerobic exercises are high intensity, short burst exercises (such as weight-lifting) used to bring about added strength, power, and muscle growth in addition to increasing our body’s metabolism. Anaerobic exercises use stored glycogen to provide energy, without the need for oxygen.
A natural progression
Weakness and frailty brought on by old age is the natural progression of life. Once we are beyond the age of procreation, our need for populating this earth diminishes and, as a result, our strength diminishes, as well. The “herd mentality” of society tells us to silently accept this decline and to age gracefully, however that is not necessarily the way it has to be. A wise person will seek out a way to reverse the aging phenomenon and maintain/regain his/her strength while living a long and fruitful life.
Many books and articles have been written, and machines have been designed, to “help” you to become strong “easily”. The authors of the books and the designers of exercise machines, who in some cases have become wealthy, actually contribute very little to making you strong. It seems, we are always looking for the easy way to attain our goals.
Here are some of the many options that people believe will make them strong, but have proven to be “fools gold”.
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Calisthenics including jumping rope, jumping jacks, punching bag exercises, body weight squats, etc. These are all aerobic exercises and won’t make you stronger because the exercises they enable don’t stress the muscles.
Jogging, running, marathons and walking. These are aerobic exercises and won’t make you stronger because they don’t stress the muscles.
Many machines found at a gym train only one muscle. These won’t make you stronger because the human body, designed to work as a cohesive unit, involves more than one muscle. If only one joint is involved in the exercise you’re doing nothing more than entertaining a muscle.
Stair stepper, Air Dyne bikes, rowing machines, Peloton machine, treadmills, and Nordic Tracks. These are all machines that support aerobic exercises and won’t make you stronger because you’re not stressing the muscles.
An annual weekend get-away at a strength training camp. While providing focus and camaraderie, the camp does little to build strength, unless the training is with a loaded barbell using multi-joint exercises and those exercises are continued once you return home, utilizing the progressive overload protocol.
This is not an exhaustive list of available “exercise” options, but most of them are aerobic and that will not promote strength. If you want to conquer aging weakness and frailty there is only one proven method shown to be successful in every application and that is barbell weight training using the progressive overload protocol.
The perception problem with barbell weight training is that people see it as “work”. In reality, shoveling a ton of gravel and wheeling it to a distant location is work, whereas a set of five repetitions of a barbell squat is but 30 seconds of work followed by five minutes of rest. While, as a novice, you won’t begin by lifting weights as you might see at a weightlifting contest, but you must be willing to lift enough weight to feel as though you worked for 30 seconds. I have yet to meet a person who is unable to meet such a challenge.
The lifting program I offer is from the Starting Strength method. This is a three-to-four-month strengthening program designed to enhance the four basic power movements of the human body, lifting, pushing, pulling and squatting. If you were to sign up for this program at a certified Starting Strength Gym, you would be expected to pay $400 monthly.
I get many calls from people inquiring about this program believing that the cost should match or be less than a typical gym membership. What we need to consider as we begin a strength training routine is the value of the coach’s knowledge and to be assured that the coach will be working with you, one-on-one, throughout your training.
Many years ago, I had to hire a trainer to get me started on a program and his fee was $35 per hour. I don’t charge an hourly rate, and your weekly cost is a fraction of what you would pay at a Starting Strength Gym. As a retiree, I lead a comfortable life and I am fortunate to not need an additional income source. I do, however, have a strong desire to help people return to their former self. It’s what I do best.
Having started lifting weights (initially a small amount of weight) at 74 years old, I experienced the joys of conquering aging weakness and truly turning back time by many years. Now nearly 82 years old, I don’t foresee a time in my future where I want to become weak again.
If you’re elderly (over 50 years old) and weak or feel that frailty has paid you a visit, this can be your life if you can commit to 30 seconds of work and a scheduled routine.
Three 5’s Barbell Strength Training email; [email protected] Tel; 419-277-6581
