Aerobic, Strength or Power Training – What is the difference and which one is for me?

                                                                             ~ Part 1 ~

 

Dr.Madan M Vasandani

I am sure many of you have heard the cliché – one out of every three individuals is overweight. If you fall under the “one” category, well we are in the same boat (I am working on it). As a doctor I am always driven to device new more efficient management plans for my patients. These include the most efficient plans for managing conditions like Diabetes, Hypertension and even the simple cough and cold. Whatever it is, having a disease is no fun and it always causes a lot of psychological impact on a person. Being overweight or obese is also a condition which engraves a psychological impact the individuals who are suffering from it. We always blame the food industry or the job industry for this. People are eating way too much junk food or the long hours of work has resulted in a sedantery lifestyle. To be honest with you I always thought this to be the sole reason. Well, these are only part of the causes. More and more individuals above the age of 30 are becoming more and more obese. Well besides the food and sedanterism, the scientific reason behind this is that one’s muscle mass decreases as a person ages. People lose almost 30% of their muscle mass when they reach the age of 70 and another 25% by the time they reach the age of 90. This depletion of muscle mass starts at the age of 30. Besides this being a physiological process, it is enhanced by the lack of utility of these muscles. 

Age together with lack of use of muscles just depletes our muscle mass at a shocking rate and this results in a very slow inefficient metabolism. Due to the slowed and inefficient metabolism, obesity becomes a common occurrence in those people who does not pay any attention to their muscles. Now, the question arises – am I actually gaining any muscle mass by doing aerobic exercise? The answer to this is a definite NO. Muscle strengthening exercise are exercises that build muscle by harnessing resistance – that is, an opposing force that muscles must train against. Hence, by doing strength training exercise we are actually slowing down the process of muscle mass depletion. Aerobic exercise is no doubt good for Cardiovascular health, but what it doesn’t do is maintain muscle mass. Aerobic exercise is not a good investment when it comes to obesity. How much ever aerobic exercise you do (or you CAN do) is not going to make a difference in terms of maintaining your weight in the long run.

     

      Here are a few benefits of muscle STRENGTHENING exercise: 

    1.  It changes the way people look, hence affecting his/her confidence

        2.  Strong muscles pluck oxygen and nutrients from the blood much more efficiently than weak ones.That means any activity requires less effort from the heart and therefore puts less strain on it.

        3.   Strong muscles are also better at sopping up sugar in the blood and helping the body stay sensitive to insulin.

          4.   Strong muscles enhance weight control too. 

   5. Muscle strengthening exercise + Speed = Power. 

Gain in Power has numerous benefits Power, not just strength, can get you from one side to the other safely. Likewise, by helping you react swiftly if your start to trip or lose your balance, power can actually prevent falls. That’s why investigators in the field of physical medicine are now combining the swift or high velocity propulsive moves of power training with more deliberate and slow strength training exercises to reap the benefits of both activities. To know more about the benefits of power training, watch out for my next post............