• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
  • STEPS Virtual
  • FAQ
  • Links
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • 615.269.8844

STEPS Fitness

Nashville's Premier Personal Fitness Training Center

  • STEPS Virtual
  • Programs
    • STEPS Fitness Presents Events
    • DR. Irv’s Perfect Exercise Minute
    • Training Packages
    • Group Offerings
    • Corporate Wellness
    • Traveler’s Special
  • Personal Trainers
    • Dr. Irv Rubenstein
  • Testimonials
  • Fitness Blog
    • Dr Irv’s Fitness Blog
    • Exercise of the Month
  • Newsletters
    • Fit Happens
    • Real News Newsletter
  • Search

February 1, 2020 By Irv Rubenstein

REAL News – February 2021

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

REAL News March 2018

February 2021

Elder Resistance Training: Two vs Three Days/Week?

The national and international guidelines for health and fitness recommend at least 2 days of week of resistance training (RT.) For the aging among us, studies clearly show that maintaining muscle mass prevents many health-related issues including frailty and susceptibility to falling. Few studies have investigated the benefits of 2 vs 3 days/wk of volume-matched RT whereby the sum total of weight lifted is equalized on a per-week basis. None have looked at the effects on older women of varied RT frequency with similar volume of lifting. We have addressed some of these issues here, here, here and here, and should remark on the nutritional requirements as well, here and here. 

A 12-wk study from Brazil recruited women over 60 from media postings; 47 women met the criteria for participation. Muscle mass, muscle strength and body fat were assessed prior to and after the training programs. One group lifted twice/wk doing 3 sets of the 8 exercises chosen to provide a comprehensive routine; the 3/wk group did 2 sets/exercise per workout.

REAL-News --February-20211

Both groups improved muscle mass and muscle strength comparably. Neither lost much weight but the 3/wk group did reduce overall body fat by a statistically-significant but not clinically-meaningful 1%. The 2/wk group lost 0.5%. 

Obviously RT should not be considered a primary mechanism of weight or body composition control for older women. Despite not controlling for diet or calorie intake, evaluations of the subjects’ diets showed no changes during the study. Thus, it can be inferred that working out 3/wk does make a difference in body fatness, just not a big difference. This affirms that weight and fat loss are best effected by making dietary changes. 

In sum, you can get stronger on 2 sessions/week, but you will have to work out harder on those days than if you did 3 sessions/wk.                                    

MSSE Oct. 2020

 

Out-of-Saddle vs In-Saddle Cycling: What’s Your Power Source

Anyone who’s ever ridden a bike or done cycling classes knows that different muscles get used in different positions. But scientists still like to confirm what it is you’re feeling. Generally we use the quadriceps at the knees and more skilled cyclists engage the hamstrings and gluteals at the hips. While everyone uses the ankles a bit, it’s rare to feel the effort there until you get out of the saddle and lean forward to drive the legs back and down. 

A few Australian biomechanists (MSSE 07/20) wanted to see what muscle groups contributed to very-high-power outputs when seated vs not seated in the saddle. This was designed to help athletes train off-bike for accelerating, climbing hills, and sprinting. 

REAL-News --February-20212

Fifteen male cyclists pedaled at two cadences – 70 and 120 rpm – in two positions using electromyography to gage muscle activations as well as video and force measures from the crank. As expected differences were observed.

Riding out of the saddle reduced the power output from the knees, i.e. the quadriceps, by 15% at both speeds compared to while seated. To make up for it, hip and ankle power escalated during non-seated riding. Furthermore, at higher cadences, knee power was ~9% lower than at 70 rpm suggesting other muscles took over.                                 

These same researchers also studied (MSSE 12/20) the contributions of body mass to pedaling at various power outputs. Especially out of the saddle, the “rise and fall of a rider’s center of mass acts as mechanical amplifier,” the more so when high-power output is done at lower pedaling cadences.

Tid Bits

Orthostatic hypotension is a sudden drop in blood pressure (BP) related to a change in posture, like from lying to sitting or sitting to standing. Many people on BP meds experience this and fear of lowering BP too much might restrain doctors’ guidance for hyper-tension. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that “more intensive blood pressure lowers had the lowest odds of orthostatic hypotension.”                        Cleveland Clinic Heart Advisor Dec. 2020

 

Want to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure with one simple – well, not so simple – move? According to a report at the European and International Conference on Obesity (Sept. 2020) of a study that followed people with obesity (avg. age 54) for at least 4 years, all of whom lost 10% to 25% of their body weight, the risk of all of those diseases could be reversed. They found this multiple-disease risk- reduction occurred among those who consistently lost 13% of their body weight over that 4 year period.  Cleveland Clinic Heart Advisor Dec. 2020

 

A clinical commentary by a multi-national group of exercise scientists that reviewed hundreds of studies on the use of foam rolling offered an exercise prescription for improving range of motion (ROM), strength (STR), power (Po), sprint speed (SS) and recovery from fatigue (F.)  They concluded that ROM is best improved by doing 1-3 sets of 2-4 seconds of rolling a body part for a total of 30-120 seconds per session. Based on the 36 studies that looked at strength measures and the 32 that looked at jump changes, they concluded that there were “generally trivial to small” negative or positive effects on performance. And based on the 15 studies that looked at rolling’s benefits for reducing muscle fatigue from a workout, they found a nominal negative benefit from rolling. But it sometimes does feel good.                                                                          JSCR Dec. 2020

Related Posts:

  • REAL News - February 2022
    REAL News - February 2022
  • REAL News - July 2021
    REAL News - July 2021
  • REAL News - August 2021
    REAL News - August 2021
  • REAL News - March 2021
    REAL News - March 2021
  • REAL News - January 2022
    REAL News - January 2022
  • REAL News - April 2021
    REAL News - April 2021
  • REAL News - June 2021
    REAL News - June 2021
  • REAL News - January 2021
    REAL News - January 2021

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Real News Tagged With: body composition, cycling, disease, older women, out-of-saddle cycling, resistance training

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

FREE Consultation!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

  • Exercise of the Month
  • Fit Happens
  • Fitness Blog
  • General News
  • Newsletters
  • Real News
  • Trainers

Tags

achieve well-being aging Alzheimer's disease barefoot running body fat bone density burn off excess weight calories cardio cardiovascular childhood obesity coronavirus covid diabetes diet dieting eating disorders Exercise exercise intensity field of health or exercise science fitness flexibility functional fitness health Heart Health higher risk of obesity lose weight mental health musculoskeletal improvements obesity osteoporosis physical activity physically active protein reduce your risk of falling resistance training running Senior Training slows cognitive decline strength training Stretching training weight loss Weight loss vs Exercise gain weight management

Recent News

Jun 01

REAL News – June 2022

May 01

REAL News – May 2022

Apr 05

REAL News – April 2022

Mar 01

REAL News – March 2022

Feb 07

Dr. Irv Rubenstein contributes to journal article on lunges

STEPS Fitness
Reviewed from Google

5 out of 5 stars

Anne Jones
Anne Jones

5 out of 5 stars

posted 1 month ago

You can feel comfortable anytime in this gym but especially during a pandemic. It is very clean and a great place to get exceptional instruction. Thanks Irv.

Big Don
Big Don

5 out of 5 stars

posted 1 year ago

This was my very first experience with a private gym and personal trainer. The owner and trainer made me feel very comfortable and at home. The gym is very clean and well equipped. I felt the price was VERY well worth the time attention I received. I will return once my work schedule becomes more predictable.

Read All 36 Reviews

Search Our Directory

Footer Widget Header

Affiliations

  • american-college-of-sports-medicine
  • american-council-on-exercise
  • biometrics
  • exercise-etc-inc
  • national-strength-and-conditioning-association
  • renewed-support

STEPS Fitness | 2424 21st Ave. S. Suite #100 | Nashville, TN 37212 | 615.269.8844 p

© 2022 Nashville's Premier Personal Fitness Training Center | Designed by Ponder Consulting ®