The Fountain of Youth: Part 1 of 3 on Resistance Training

I recently gave a talk for the Greensburg Business Connection, of which I am a member, regarding my passion; resistance training!

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Who in this room is currently working out in some fashion?

What are you doing?

Who is trying to eat better?

Groans, right? We know we are supposed to exercise and eat better, but too often we don’t.

Why is that? From my experience, it is a combination of not understanding the benefits, unreasonably high self-imposed barrier to entry (time, equipment, etc.), but also simply not asking the right questions.

Instead of self-criticism and fixing what is “wrong with you”, what if we approached it with these questions:

“What would being healthier allow you to experience more of?”

“Who benefits when you take care of yourself like this?”

The answers to these much deeper questions anchor us in the reality of how importance our health is.

Good news!

You don’t have to be perfect to get results. Any activity is good activity, any dietary change moving in the direction of whole foods, etc.…is good.

The scientific literature continually supports the idea that even very small, seemingly insignificant doses of exercise are beneficial.

Why does that matter? Because it lowers the barrier to entry. I want more people to exercise and eat better and from a long-term societal health perspective, we all should be doing that.

Quick background on me.

I nearly had an eating disorder as a teenager which taught me that undereating is not good. Starving yourself to "have abs" doesn't actually give you abs. It just leaves you feeling weak and undernourished.

Then as a young husband and father I had an all or nothing approach, if I couldn’t do things perfect, that it wasn’t worth doing at all. If I didn't have 60 minutes in a fancy gym setting, then I wasn't going to work out at all. It was only years later unfortunately, that I learned what I just told you, that even small doses of exercise matter.

On that note, even though I started “later”, the scientific literature clearly supports that it’s never too late to start. Whether trained or untrained, you can grow muscle and get stronger even if you are only starting your fitness journey in your 70s or 80s.

When I really explored resistance training, I was in my early 30s. I worked 2 jobs and thus became very good at condensing my workouts to what really mattered. No fluff.

It was about efficiency and time management. I was able to build my physique to a level I was proud of with 30 minute workouts, which is what I do with my clients.

Accepting that even 30 minutes, or even less is effective, can change your life. We all have 30 minutes a few times per week if we are honest!

Come back for part 2 and 3.