Claire and I spent a lot of months (and years of accumulated knowledge and experience with thousands of clients) researching the best approach for our the physical training pillar of our Midlife Method programme.
We looked at dozens of studies from universities around the world who’d looked at midlife exercise, and that, combined with our own experience, led us to come up with the science backed approach that we have, and that get’s such phenomenal results for our clients.
The good news, another new study vindicates our methodology (yay!).
Iowa State University looked at the health of 12000 mostly midlife adults and found that resistance training two to three times a week lowered obesity risk by 20 to 30 percent over two decades. If that resistance training time hit between one and two hours a week, the obesity risk reduction was 30 to 40 percent.
At midlife one of our golden rules is less is more (due to hormonal and physiological changes we need more recovery), so two hours of resistance split over three to four sessions a week is not only do-able from a time perspective, but will get you great results.
Let’s not forget that these figures are only looking at obesity, but if you’re resistance training regularly you’re going to have more lean muscle (so look better, and be stronger), have better bone density, and a higher metabolic rate (since muscle is highly metabolically active).
The study also showed beneficial effects on reduction in cholesterol, inflammation, blood pressure and reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease.
We often talk about a couple of UK studies which looked at large cohort numbers over a couple of decades with the headline finding that those who’d reported regular strength training had their mortality risk reduced by around a third!
Resistance training has also been linked to boosting the brain areas vulnerable to Alzheimers, can boost confidence, and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.
Of course, just doing resistance training, while great, isn’t the whole picture for optimising midlife (and beyond) health. We also need to work on our cardiovascular fitness, and combine our cardio and resistance in a way that optimises results and allows sufficient recovery.
A final word… training is only part of the picture, and one of our pillars. At all stages of life but particularly midlife we need to also work on our: nutrition, positive mindset, emotional wellbeing, understand (and work with) our hormones, and be accountable and supported.
Combining these elements will not only get you great physical results, but set up you with a mindset for sustained success, without making big sacrifices in your life.
If you’d like to know more about what we do and how you can work with us, get in touch.
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