Extend your life by increasing your muscle strength. That is the main message of a study presented at EuroPrevent 2019, a conference of the European Society of Cardiology.
Strength is dependent on the ability to generate force and speed and to coordinate movement. In other words, it is the measure of the work done per unit of time (force times distance); more power is produced when the same amount of work is completed in a shorter period of time or when more work is done in the same period. Climbing stairs requires power – the faster you climb, the more power you need. Holding or pushing a heavy object (e.g. a car with an empty battery) requires strength.
The researcher said, "Strength training is performed by finding the best combination of speed and weight to be lifted or moved." For strength training at the gym, most people only think about the amount of weight lifted and the number of reps without paying attention to the speed of execution, but for optimal strength training results, you should go beyond typical strength training and add speed to your weight lifts. .”
Muscle power gradually declines after 40 years. "We now show that vigor is strongly related to all-cause mortality, but the good news is that you only need to be above the median for your sex to have the best survival, with no further benefit to become even more potent," said the researcher.
The study enrolled 3,878 non-athletes between the ages of 41 and 85 who underwent a maximum muscle strength test using the upright row exercise between 2001 and 2016 (see photo). The mean age of the participants was 59 years, 5% were older than 80 and 68% were male. The highest value reached after two or three attempts with increasing loads was considered the maximum muscle power and expressed relative to body weight (i.e. power per kg body weight). Values were divided into quartiles for survival analysis and analyzed separately by gender.
During a median follow-up of 6.5 years, 247 men (10%) and 75 women (6%). The median power ratings were 2.5 watts/kg for males and 1.4 watts/kg for females. Participants with maximum muscle strength above the median for their gender (i.e. in quartiles three and four) had the best survival. Those in quartiles two and one had a 4-5 and 10-13 times higher risk of death, respectively, compared to those above the median in maximum muscle strength.
How to train to increase your muscle strength:
* Choose multiple exercises for the upper and lower body
* Choose a weight with the load to achieve maximum power (not so easy to lift and not so heavy that you can barely lift it)
* Perform one to three sets of six to eight reps moving the weight as quickly as possible while contracting your muscles (slow or natural speed when returning to starting position)
* Rest for 20 seconds between each set to replenish the energy reservoirs in your muscles enough to start the new set
* Repeat the above for the other exercises (biceps curl, etc.).
How to proceed:
* Start with six reps in each set and if the exercise gets easy, try increasing to eight
* When it gets easy again, increase the weight and go back to six reps
* If you can't complete the reps with proper technique, avoid "cheating" and go back to fewer reps or less weight. This is important to prevent injuries.
