Strength Training: A Secret to Longevity?
Longevity is all the rage right now. Modern medicine is shifting its focus from cure to prevention, and there’s compelling evidence that exercise is the most potent “pill” we can take for a longer, healthier life. Today, let’s dive into the role of strength training in promoting longevity.
The Power of Strength
According to recent scientific studies, muscular strength is inversely and independently associated with all-cause mortality. This means that regardless of other factors like cardiorespiratory fitness, age, body fat, smoking, or alcohol intake, stronger individuals tend to live longer. But what exactly is strength?
Definitively, we consider strength as the ability to recruit the necessary muscles to generate the required forces for a given movement. The more complex the movement, the higher the strength demand. It’s not just about how much you can lift but also about skill and coordination.
Key Factors of Strength for Longevity
Grip Strength: The Ultimate Predictor
Your grip strength can say a lot about your overall health. In fact, thresholds of handgrip strength have been systematically reviewed and show a strong correlation with lower all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality.
This paper written by López-Bueno & colleagues titled “Thresholds of handgrip strength for all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality: A systematic review with dose-response meta-analysis” showed “The dose-response relationship of handgrip strength substantially varies depending on the cause of mortality.”
See graphs below:
Simple exercises like hanging from a bar, deadlifts, and various carries can significantly boost your grip strength.
2. Hip Hinge and Bilateral Force Generation
The ability to sit and rise from the floor is a surprising yet powerful predictor of mortality. A study involving adults aged 51-80 found that lower scores on the sitting-rising test (SRT) were associated with higher mortality. This test reflects your hip extensor and knee extensor strength, along with trunk stability (back extensors and abdominals).
At SOF, we have specific goals to ensure our clients’ longevity:
Males: Squat your body weight for 10 reps, deadlift 1.5-2 times your body weight for 3-5 reps.
Females: Squat 75% of your body weight for 10 reps, deadlift 1-1.5 times your body weight.
3. Single Leg Strength
For balance, coordination and just general mobility, single leg strength is totally underestimated. If we want land based athletes to run faster, single leg strength is a major box they need to tick.
Single leg strength links the muscles of the ankle, knee, and hip. Exercises like the arabesque, lunges, Bulgarian split squats, single-leg sit-to-stands, pistols, and reverse lunges are fantastic for building this kind of strength. Once you can confidently execute such exercises, then we look to increase complexity with load and velocity (speed).
4. Upper Body Pushing and Overhead Strength
Push-ups are more than just an upper body exercise. They are associated with significant reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease risk. A study found that participants who could complete more than 40 push-ups had a substantially lower risk of cardiovascular events compared to those who did fewer than 10. Not only that but getting a bag over your head on a flight or absorbing impact on a fall requires upper body pushing strength and again is critical to living a long and active life.
Bringing It All Together
Incorporating strength training into your routine can provide robust benefits for longevity. It’s not just about lifting weights; it’s about improving your overall functionality and resilience. Whether it’s boosting your grip strength, enhancing your ability to get up from the floor, or increasing your upper body endurance, strength training is a crucial component of a long, healthy life.
So, if you haven’t already, it’s time to make strength training a regular part of your exercise regimen. Remember, it’s not just about adding years to your life, but adding life to your years.
By integrating these principles, we aim to equip our clients with the tools they need for a long and healthy life, one lift at a time. Stay tuned for the next part of our series, where we’ll delve into the benefits of cardiovascular training for longevity.
