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............
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