
Life is full of bumps and bruises. We bump into desks, people, I'm famous for kitchen drawers... and we trip over things. Usually these leave a little mark, or no mark at all, and their soon forgotten. Other times, our "bumps" are bit more severe... like getting rear-ended in our car at 50 MPH!
Months ago I wrote an article/blog post named "A Tale of Two Mother-In-Laws". It was written in reference to a client of mine, in her early 80's, who had tripped over a parking-lot stopper, and bounced off the parking lot. Instead of breaking a hip, or an ankle, or a wrist, at age 80+... she got up, dusted herself off, and went on. Bruised? Yes. Scraped up? Yes. Seriously hurt? NO! At age 82!
Just this weekend, unfortunately, a client of mine was rear-ended in his sports car, by a hit-and-run drunk driver. The airbags deployed, and the cabin held (nice car...), but he awoke in the hospital. Today, he went to work! He took today off from training, but he's planning on lifting with me tomorrow! Of course... I've told him NOT to come if he's "feeling it" tonight... but I'm guessing he'll be just fine. He's been working with me for over a year, and has added a LOT of muscle back onto his 55 year old frame.
We hear about NFL players too frequently, in their sports cars wrecking at a hundred miles an hour... and walking away.
Bodybuilders... football players... and even 80-yr old training clients. THEY ARE DURABLE!
More durable, more injury-resistant, "tougher" than those who don't put stress on their bodies on a weekly basis.
Strength training at any age causes your muscles to grow (obviously), but it also builds tendons,. ligaments, and bone density. Bone density is a HUGE factor in durability. The long-term effects of strength training on our skeletons is evident when looking at bone scans/screenings for osteopenia and osteoporosis. "Weight Bearing Exercise" is critical for bone density. Not just walking/jogging for the lower body, but weight training for the upper body. Like muscle, our bones get weaker and weaker as we age (if we don't train with weights). And just like muscle, we can stop and even reverse bone-loss with regular strength training. I have a DOZEN older female clients through the years who have seen DIRECT correlation between their bone density and their time weight training.
Durability absolutely improves with the increases in muscle, tendon and ligament strength, and bone density/strength. Yet another important reason to get into the weight room up, and more HEAVY weight... Someday... it might just save your life, or mobility freedom!
Months ago I wrote an article/blog post named "A Tale of Two Mother-In-Laws". It was written in reference to a client of mine, in her early 80's, who had tripped over a parking-lot stopper, and bounced off the parking lot. Instead of breaking a hip, or an ankle, or a wrist, at age 80+... she got up, dusted herself off, and went on. Bruised? Yes. Scraped up? Yes. Seriously hurt? NO! At age 82!
Just this weekend, unfortunately, a client of mine was rear-ended in his sports car, by a hit-and-run drunk driver. The airbags deployed, and the cabin held (nice car...), but he awoke in the hospital. Today, he went to work! He took today off from training, but he's planning on lifting with me tomorrow! Of course... I've told him NOT to come if he's "feeling it" tonight... but I'm guessing he'll be just fine. He's been working with me for over a year, and has added a LOT of muscle back onto his 55 year old frame.
We hear about NFL players too frequently, in their sports cars wrecking at a hundred miles an hour... and walking away.
Bodybuilders... football players... and even 80-yr old training clients. THEY ARE DURABLE!
More durable, more injury-resistant, "tougher" than those who don't put stress on their bodies on a weekly basis.
Strength training at any age causes your muscles to grow (obviously), but it also builds tendons,. ligaments, and bone density. Bone density is a HUGE factor in durability. The long-term effects of strength training on our skeletons is evident when looking at bone scans/screenings for osteopenia and osteoporosis. "Weight Bearing Exercise" is critical for bone density. Not just walking/jogging for the lower body, but weight training for the upper body. Like muscle, our bones get weaker and weaker as we age (if we don't train with weights). And just like muscle, we can stop and even reverse bone-loss with regular strength training. I have a DOZEN older female clients through the years who have seen DIRECT correlation between their bone density and their time weight training.
Durability absolutely improves with the increases in muscle, tendon and ligament strength, and bone density/strength. Yet another important reason to get into the weight room up, and more HEAVY weight... Someday... it might just save your life, or mobility freedom!