#40: 💪🏼 Resistance Training: Anti-Aging for Your Whole Body
#40: 💪🏼 Resistance Training: Anti-Aging for Your Whole Body
How resistance training is the fountain of youth for your skin, bones, brain and muscles
Hey Friends,
In honor of the 40th week of Nina’s Notes, I’d like to recommend a few Notes from the archive:
And my two-part rant about the Scholarly Publishing industry
Thank you for reading my notes and supporting me on my writing journey. Click that like button, subscribe if you haven’t and share Nina’s Notes with a friend.
💬 In this note:
💪🏼 Resistance Training: Anti-Aging for Your Whole Body
📚 Who Shat on the Floor at My Wedding
⚡️ A Programmable Fiber
💪🏼 Resistance Training: Anti-Aging for Your Whole Body
What is resistance training?
Resistance training, also known as strength training or weight training, is a type of exercise that uses resistance to induce muscle contraction, which builds the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles.
Resistance can come in many forms, including body weight, resistance bands, free weights like dumbbells, and weight machines at the gym.
During resistance training, your muscles have to work to overcome the resistance, and this helps to build muscle mass, increase strength and improve bone density.
Resistance training found to improve skin aging
Resistance training, not just aerobic exercise, enhances skin health and may counteract skin aging.
In a study conducted with sedentary, middle-aged Japanese women, it was found that both resistance training and aerobic exercise led to improvements in signs of skin aging.
The improvements included enhanced skin elasticity and structure.
The key finding was that resistance training led to an increase in the thickness of the dermis, the inner layer of the skin.
That means that resistance training, well-known for its muscle-thickening effects, also appears to thicken the dermis.
On top of that, resistance training was also found to boost levels of a protein called biglycan, which plays a critical role in wound healing and maintaining skin resilience, especially through its interactions with collagen.
As we age, one of the telltale signs of skin aging is a thinning dermis, which is primarily due to a decrease in the activity and number of fibroblasts. These are the cells that produce collagen and elastin, the key structural proteins in our skin. As this happens, we lose skin elasticity, and sagging and wrinkles begin to appear.
But, based on these findings, it seems that resistance training could offer a powerful countermeasure.
Resistance training already is known to do wonders for our muscles, bones, and brain.
Resistance training for our bones & muscles
The prevalence of osteoporosis and sarcopenia increases with age.
Osteoporosis is characterized by a decreased bone mass and low bone mineral density.
Sarcopenia is the age-related decrease in muscle mass.
From the time you are born until you turn 30, your muscles grow larger and stronger. But at some point in your 30s, you start to lose muscle mass and function.
Physically inactive people can lose as much as 3-5% of their muscle mass each decade after age 30. Sarcopenia happens faster around age 75, and is a major factor in frailty and likelihood of falls and fractures in older adults.
Because bones and muscles are closely interconnected in our bodies, the decline of both simultaneously leads to an exacerbation of negative health effects.
Both osteoporosis and sarcopenia are thought to be preventable and treatable diseases.
Resistance training is known to be highly beneficial for the preservation of bone and muscle mass.
Resistance training two to three times a week for 1 year demonstrated an increase in bone mineral density in the spine and hip of post-menopausal women.
Most studies on bone density have been conducted in older women because of the rapid increase in osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
However a 2013 review looked at the effect of physical exercise in middle-aged and older men, and found evidence in agreement with the women’s studies that regular resistance training alone, or in combination with impact-loading activities (such as jumping, step-ups, skipping rope) can prevent a decline in bone density and muscle mass and even increase bone mineral density.
Resistance training for our brain
Resistance training has also been recognized for its positive impacts on brain health. In a 2012 study of women aged 65 to 75, once or twice weekly resistance training improved executive cognitive function. The improvements in brain function were visible through changes in brain activation patterns seen in the functional MRI (fMRI).
A decline in white matter integrity has been observed preceding the appearance of dementia. A 2015 study showed that a 12-month resistance training program can reduce the decline in white matter in women with mild cognitive impairment, and not just reduce the decline, but also increase white matter density.
Resistance training was also shown to improve memory and memory-related brain function in older adults.
Studies have also suggested that resistance training can improve cognitive function and reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms in persons with mild Alzheimer's disease.
What is the best resistance training for longevity?
A resistance training program should be individually tailored to you, so it is best to work with a physical therapist or a personal trainer to learn exercises and practice proper form until you feel confident to do the resistance exercises independently.
Several studies recommend resistance training 2-3 times per week, and it should be a program that you can stick to consistently. This means finding activities that you enjoy, that fit in to your schedule and challenge you enough but do not make you want to quit.
Full body workouts are recommended which engage all major muscle groups through a combination of exercise to improve overall strength and functionality. It is also important to have a balance between strength training (heavier weight, few reps) and muscular endurance training (lighter weights, more reps). This helps to ensure that you're not only building strength but also enhancing your body's ability to perform activities of daily living over a prolonged period of time.
Resistance training should be combined with flexibility and mobility exercises. This can help to reduce the risk of injuries and enhance overall function.
Particularly as we age, exercises that improve balance and stability are important to prevent falls and related injuries. Exercises that involve standing on one leg, or exercises on unstable surfaces can be very helpful to training and improving balance.
Giving your body enough time to rest and recover between workouts is essential to prevent overtraining and reduce the risk of injuries.
📚 Book of the Week
Not a book this week, but a podcast called “Who Shat on the Floor at My Wedding.”
It was recommended by a friend, who downloaded it because she read ^^ this tweet.
It’s laugh out loud funny.
The whole story is so absurd, and the brides and their friends investigating are hilarious.
I’ve been listening while walking around the city and I’ve been smiling so big and laughing, and definitely freaking people out.
Everyone needs to listen to it.
⚡️ Check This Out
MIT engineers have created the first digital fiber that can sense, store, and analyze data.
The fiber, embedded with silicon microscale digital chips, features memory, temperature sensors, and a neural network program for inferring physical activity.
This innovation expands the potential for textiles to detect physical patterns in the human body, aiding in health monitoring and early disease detection.
The fiber is thin, flexible, can be sewn into fabrics, and can withstand at least 10 washes.
The team demonstrated the ability of the fiber to store significant information, such as a short movie file and a music file, which can be stored for up to 2 months without power.
Future applications might include real-time health monitoring and athlete performance tracking.