Resistance to resistance training and how to stop it
“ In order to change a muscle we need to ask it for more than it can already do or do something new in a new way.”
- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Ep 155
How to stop resisting resistance training
Back in the day it used to be a pretty hard sell to get women to pick up the heavy weights. There was a lot of false perceptions and misunderstandings about what weight training would do to a woman’s body. Any body really. People thought weights were for bulking up and cardio was for slimming down. And yes, they can get those results if you’re also eating to support that activity.
But resistance training is important for more than simply changing the shape of the body. It’s more than picking up heavy weights too.
So that’s today's work in, getting over our resistance to resistance training how and why we should.
So let’s dive in.
What do you think of when someone says resistance training? Personally I tend to think of great big muscle bound guys throwing weights around the gym, grunting and posing in front of the mirror. There are probably still a few places out there like that.
You can use the big weights to get resistance training. But you can use a lot of other things too. Pretty much anything that makes what you’re doing harder counts. Starting with body weight. A yoga class is resistance training when you first start. Bands are excellent ways to add resistance. Isometrics like holding a plank is resistance training. And then of course there’s adding weight. Holding dumbbells or wearing a weight vest can turn a walk into resistance training.
For me anything that you do that takes your body beyond what it can already comfortably do can be resistance training. But that’s the hard part. To do that we have to push ourselves. We have to be willing to try things that we aren’t sure that we can do. So not only is there physical resistance, we also have to overcome the mental resistance to being uncomfortable.
Once we can do that we can do anything
But why? Why should we care about this kind of exercise? Isn’t walking enough?
For both men and women. According to NIH After age 30 we lose 3-8% muscle mass per decade. Muscle mass loss is called sarcopenia. And it leads to loss of bone density, increased fat mass,increased insulin resistance. Loss of strength and function increases the risk of falls and is a leading contributor to disability as we age. It’s a slippery slope down the path to metabolic dysfunction, inflammation and chronic pain.
For women in perimenopause and menopause this is even more pronounced because the loss of estrogen and testosterone makes it even harder to keep the muscle we do have and build new. But we can do it and we should do it.
Muscle is the metabolic engine of the body. If we feed it good quality protein and challenge it with enough resistance it will keep us strong and stable our whole life.
Here are some key things to remember for this category of fitness.
Muscle mass supports bone density. More muscle, more bone.
Growing muscle takes a couple of key ingredients. 1 is the right food to grow and enough of it to build + repair muscle cells. This is specifically essential amino acids in protein. We talked all about this last episode. 154. So you can go back and check that one out. 2 is a reason to grow. That’s what resistance exercise is supposed to do. It has to ask the muscle to do more than it already can do in order to NEED to grow and repair. In that process we are also stressing the bones which helps them build as well. This is all the good kind of physical stress. Ask for more and the body will give you more.
Muscle is an energy tank for glucose.
So when we eat carbs they have someplace to go besides our fat cells and the liver. Preventing insulin resistance. Insulin (and leptin resistance) are key factors in metabolic syndrome and go hand in hand with a lot of other nasty things most of us are trying to avoid like Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimers and dementia, Autoimmune disorders, arthritis, cancer and more. But when we build up our muscle mass we are giving that sugar in the bloodstream something to do and a place to go.
Muscle is expensive. (calorie-wise)
It requires enough of the right kind of calories and nutrients to maintain, build and repair it. So if you are creating more muscle then that muscle will keep burning calories for you all day long. Not just when you’re working out.
So this is all great but how can we tap into this muscle magic?
What does it take to actually make the muscle change?
Well that all depends on where we start. In order to change a muscle we need to ask it for more than it can already do or do something new in a new way. If you are a bodybuilder and you’re used to doing 1 rep max squats that’s great. Can you use those muscles in a different way? Can you hold a squat pulse for 60 sec. 2 minutes or 5? If you’re a hiker, maybe pick up some 20 pound weights and lunge across the room until you’re not sure you can take another step. If you’ve never done a push up before maybe start with a forearm plank and hold it until you can’t every day and watch that core strength build. Whatever we choose, it needs to fatigue the muscle.
For me that means getting to the point where I want to quit and then holding on until my body actually has to quit. With the caveat that it doesn’t injure my joints. That looks different for every exercise.
Resistance training doesn’t have to be complicated but it is a critical piece of our long term health and one of our 5 categories in our cat 5 challenge for the new year. If you’re starting from scratch, maybe right off the couch, I highly recommend you find a trainer to help you learn good form. My clients tell me that there’s no way they would do the things we do on their own. That’s human nature. But if you know that then a trainer can help get you started and keep you on track. If you are a trainer you know the value there. But sometimes even we need a swift kick to get back at it. That’s part of our Work IN.
Thanks for listening If you like what you heard and you want to know more head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin for the show notes and links to our cat5 challenge tracker as well as more info and resources for fit pros and health enthusiasts alike!
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
Schedule a free consultation call to see if my brand of actionable accountability is right for you and your business.