A Friendly Nudge - Building on Strength

When I was lifting weights at a younger age, I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. I took weight training for PE credit a couple of semesters in college but I don’t remember learning the difference between strength and power or various rep ranges. It was more about doing the necessary lifts to get an A or B in the class and not sweating the details.

It’s understandable that the average 70-year-old may not be all that interested in knowing the difference between strength and power or how VO₂ max is measured. However, being able to carry their own groceries out to their car, climb a flight of stairs without feeling gassed, or being able to catch themselves when they stumble instead of landing in a heap probably does matter to them.

I talked last week about heart disease and cancer grabbing my attention– they were incredibly effective at that. They resoundingly convinced me how precious health is and the consequences of taking it for granted.That appreciation has also made me a much better physical therapy patient. It’s helped me rehab my shoulder as well as a myriad of other injuries and damage that have been accumulating over the years.

Reluctantly, I’m embracing the reality that doing dumb stuff at 71 is a lot more painful and expensive than doing the same dumb stuff when I was 25. I have to be a lot more deliberate and intentional now than I used to. I also have to show up. Not exercising when I was 25 didn’t come with a lot of overhead or consequences. Not exercising at 71 means a lot more discomfort and reduced capacity than I’m willing to accept.

The reason you’ve been seeing a greater emphasis on warming up in the past few weeks is because it’s especially important if you’re going to increase the intensity of exercise. I don’t warm up before doing something like carrying my groceries out to the car, but I’ve become increasingly consistent and fairly methodical with my warm ups prior to a heavy dead lift.

Here’s why exercise that includes resistance training is non-negotiable as we age. Without resistance training, eventually just getting out of a chair or off of the toilet will become our 1 rep max. Resistance training doesn’t have to be grueling or require endless hours in the gym but if we want to influence how aging feels we need to first build a solid foundation and then gradually and deliberately increase what our bodies are able to safely do by dialing up the difficulty of the tasks.

This also gives us a solid base to build power which makes navigating daily obstacles feel less treacherous. And all of these things make us a little more durable so in the event of a fall we improve our odds of remaining intact.

Most of my previous content has been geared toward improving muscular endurance and overall stability, but it hasn’t been geared toward maximizing strength with heavier weights and lower reps schemes. It’s essential that we build a base level of fitness before we start trying to maximize strength with weights that are approaching our max effort.

The majority of what you’ll continue to see in the weekly exercises are a combination of strength, balance and mobility exercises with some drills to improve agility and some high velocity, low weight power exercises. You’ll continue to see some dumbbell, kettlebell, and resistance band exercises. Over time I’ll add some options that would allow you to work up to heavier weights with lower rep ranges. But those will be for more experienced exercisers.

I won’t be including things like barbell back squats because even though there are plenty of classic adults moving some serious weights, my squats are limited to belt squats and I don’t have a set up for that at home.

So if you’re tuning in to Nudge for some weekly exercise options for building your strength, mobility and balance, relax you’ll continue to see those. And, if you’re interested in taking your strength and agility to the next level as well as doing something to counteract what aging is doing to our fall prevention muscles, stay tuned.

Now let’s talk about breakfast.

Most days my breakfast is some type of concoction with steel cut oats, maybe some arugula or kale, either ground beef or leftover salmon (or if I’m feeling real adventurous sardines), and a little salsa and maybe some sliced avocado. That combination gives me plenty of protein and fiber and even on those sardine days, makes for a tasty breakfast. But occasionally I’m in the mood for something a little lighter and less savory. And this week’s meal is an example of that. I’m using Legion’s Whey Protein, but any protein powder that has a flavor you enjoy would work for this.

Loaded Oatmeal

I do make pancakes on occasion for a non-savory breakfast but those are time consuming enough where they’re mostly limited to special occasions. For spur of the moment non-savory options, loaded oatmeal is my go to. I’m using a coconut cream whey protein isolate but vanilla works great too.

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked steel cut oatmeal

1 cup of frozen mixed berries or a package of berries & kale smoothie mix

½ cup milk

1 scoop protein powder

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

Place the frozen berries or smoothie mix in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute. Add the oatmeal, milk, chia seeds and protein powder and mix to combine. Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until it reaches your desired temp and then stir in the pumpkin seeds.

Enjoy!

OK, now that you’ve got another breakfast option, let’s give you some exercise options for the week.

I say this every week because it’s important enough that it bears repeating– don’t feel like you have to do an exercise just because it’s here. Skip any that you don’t feel ready for and be patient with yourself.

With the weighted exercises, like the farmer’s carries and the single arm rows, if you’re just getting started use a weight that’s light enough that you can focus on learning the movement and you can increase the weight as your confidence and comfort with the movement increases. If you’ve been doing this for a while, you can do 1-2 warm up sets with a lighter weight and then 1-3 sets with a heavier weight. With the single leg kettlebell circles and the stability ball chest press, the instability of both of those exercises is challenging enough in itself so using a lighter weight than you’d normally use is the better call. Balancing on one foot or supporting yourself on a stability ball isn’t the right venue for going heavy. Our goal is to get stronger and that’s hard to do if we’re hurt.