Should Strong be the New Skinny?

I shared the article this quote is from last week on my Facebook page but I relate to it so much I had to make it a post.

It’s called “This Trendy ‘Strong is the New Skinny’ Thing and what is could mean for the next generation of girls,” and this paragraph could not describe me and mentality at the moment, any better:

“Now when I look in the mirror (this is embarrassing by the way, I can’t believe I’m admitting this online) I flex instead of sucking in. Now when I pinch my stomach, it’s to feel my abs, not to feel shitty about how much “flab” (real or imaginary) is sitting there. I no longer stare at the “calories burned” display on the elliptical, but how many plates I have on each end of the barbell.” — Sophieologie.com

I mostly agree with the article but like some of the commenters, I fear “strong” could become the new “skinny” in a bad way.

It’s true. I’ve become a bit of a workout junkie. I took this photo last month as a joke but never got a chance to share it.

I’m really starting to see the changes in my body. I feel the difference in my strength. I have more energy. I’m happier. I even feel calmer in a weird way, more in control of my emotions.

So my gut reaction to this article was positive. Of course “strong” is a better goal than “skinny.” I’ve even wrote a post about why I feel “skinny” is about the worst goal you can set. 

However, it does feel a bit like we are swapping out one cultural obsession (thinness) with another (super fit), and although I fall in the category of a workout junkie (now) I’ve made that choice after a lifetime of hating myself and my body. For me it IS a more positive shift in my goals, but I can only imagine how young girls may feel today.

What if you happen to be thin and have no interest in lifting weights — do you now feel just as inadequate as I did not sporting the “heroin chic,” waifish frame body of the ’90s? What about other folks who do workout, enjoy it, yet still don’t have the “expected” body shape of a “strong” woman?

Why does it feel like we are we constantly doing things in pursuit of someone else’s ideals weather it be skinny, strong or curvy?

It’s taken me a long time to get to where I am emotionally and it’s true I got here by pursuing weight loss. I’m not going to lie and say the changes in my body aren’t awesome, but I stripped myself of the pressure of looking a specific way long ago. If I didn’t I’d still be pursuing Twiggy’s arms and Elle MacPherson legs, both of which are a complete impossibility for my body type regardless of how much weight I lose or iron I pump.

Now I do what I do because I WANT to do it. I pursue fitness goals because it makes me feel amazing. Alive. Accomplished.

Confidence should be the new skinny.

I hope that’s the message I’m spreading.

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Kicking Up Your Metabolism - With Strong Sexy Muscles

Last week we talked about the importance of muscle in kicking up our metabolism. Here are more guidelines to get you moving in that direction.

Although aerobic exercise—things like running, bicycling, swimming, and dancing—are good workouts for your heart and lungs and help you lose weight, these aren’t going to help you maintain your strength. “The only type of exercise that prevents sarcopenia is resistance exer­cise,” says William Evans, PhD, a professor of geriatrics, physiology, and nutrition at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville who has studied how older people can address their muscle declines. (Sarcopenia, by the way, is the medical term for  muscle loss.) Studies looking at ath­letes who have been running all their lives found that, though they’re leaner and have lower risk of chronic diseases, their strength is similar to sedentary people of the same age.
You have to use resistance exercise to maintain and build your muscle. Some people refer to this type of activity as lifting weights, and pumping dumbbells and barbells certainly works. But you can also use strength-training machines at the gym or stretchy elastic bands. For some exercises, such as abdominal crunches, you simply lift your own body weight. But what all these activities have in common is that they require you to push your muscles against a form of resistance.
To appreciably increase your muscle size and strength, Dr. Evans says, you can’t use weights that feel extremely light. Rather, you need to do exercises that incorporate at least 60 percent of the weight you can lift one time. In his studies, Dr. Evans typically has subjects lifting 80 percent of their maximum. Also, the weight you use should tire you out within eight to 12 repetitions. For example, if you can curl a 30-pound dumbbell once, you should aim for curling a 20-pound dumbbell up to 12 times. Curling a 10-pound dumbbell 20 times, by contrast, won’t build your muscle strength. Likewise, if you can curl a 20-pound dumb­bell once, you’ll want to work on curling a 12-pound dumbbell up to 12 times.
If you’re worried about building bulk—don’t be. Few women actually gain significant muscle mass doing strength exercises, unless they’re genetically predisposed to it. Do check with a trainer or someone at your gym if you’re not certain of a safe starting weight.
Early in your resistance training, you’ll notice quick improvements, Dr. Evans says. In even just 2 months, your strength may double. This isn’t simply a matter of your muscles getting bigger—your brain learns how to use your muscles more efficiently, too.
But as you stick with it, your strength-training plan must be progres­sive. You have to add repetitions and use heavier weights (or thicker elastic bands). That’s because your muscles get stronger, so they can adapt to lift­ing a certain weight. After you curl that 12-pound dumbbell 12 times for several sessions, it ceases to be a challenge, and you stop gaining strength. So once you can lift a weight 12 times, it’s time to use a heavier weight and strive to lift it at least eight times.
Doing two sets of each exercise is a sufficient workout for your muscles, Dr. Evans says. That means you’d lift the weight—or stretch the band—a “set” of eight to 12 repetitions, then take a rest or do a different exercise, and then do another set.
Just two strength-training workouts a week, with exercises that work all your major muscle groups during each session, are adequate for build­ing and maintaining your muscles. Your full-body workout would include exercises that focus on the fronts of your arms (biceps), backs of your arms (triceps), chest, shoulders, upper back, the fronts and backs of your thighs, your abdomen, and your lower back.
It’s beyond the scope of this blog to tell you everything you need to know about strength training. But here are some tips to keep in mind.
¦ Talk to your doctor before beginning any new type of exercise program. Lifting weights may not be appropriate for people with certain conditions, such as high blood pressure or joint problems.
¦ Strive for two strength-training workouts, each containing 10 or so exercises that give you a full-body workout. Do two sets of eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise.
¦ Consider working at least one session with a qualified fitness professional. A certified personal trainer can help you design a program, teach you how to do exercises, and observe your form to ensure it’s correct.
¦ Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes before a strength-training session and cool down afterward. Walking briskly and pumping your arms is a good warm-up.

¦ You have a lot of options for how to train. According to Dr. Evans, a simple and economical approach is to use elastic bands or tubes. You can do many exercises by standing on one end and tugging on the other, standing in the middle and pulling both ends, or holding each end and pulling them apart. Free weights, like dumbbells and barbells, also improve balance and coordination, but you need a spotter to help you with some exercises. Weight machines tend to be a little safer and easier to use, he says.
¦ When you increase the amount of weight you lift or the difficulty of the elastic band you stretch, make the challenge only 5 to 10 percent harder. This will limit your risk of injury.
¦ Don’t do strength-training sessions for the same muscle groups on back-to-back days. Your muscles need more time to recover.
¦ Work opposing muscles proportionally. That means working muscles on the fronts and backs of your upper arms, your upper back and chest, and your lower back and abdomen. Ignoring muscle groups throws your body out of balance.
¦ Get plenty of protein. As you read earlier, the recommended daily allowance of protein for adults may not be enough to encourage sufficient muscle maintenance as you get older. Researchers haven’t pinned down exactly how much you should strive to get. If you aim for getting 30 percent of your calories from protein, however, you should get enough to support muscle maintenance and growth. Get most of your protein from low-fat sources, Dr. Evans recommends. Protein will be much more efficient at building muscle when you eat it within 30 minutes after a workout, he says. Have a turkey sandwich, some low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese, or nibble on some steamed edamame. Half a cup of these green immature soybeans contains a whopping 14 grams of protein.

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Strong is Sexy!

What do muscle mass and strength have to do with how well we age?

After 30, your muscle mass dwindles some three to eight percent each decade. Once you hit 60, these losses accelerate even more quickly. The consequences are far more serious than a change in your appearance. Declining muscle mass doesn’t simply mean your shoulders are less toned or you can’t achieve the same results in sports that you did as a teenager. These muscle changes have implications that are much bigger than your new pant size. The effects are serious and far-reaching. They determine how healthy and active you’ll remain for the rest of your life.

Decreased muscle mass means you’ll burn far fewer calories. If you take in the same amount that you did when you were younger, you’ll start accumulating body fat. Your muscles require a lot of calories to maintain: Think of them as a bunch of high-strung, active family members visiting your home. They’re always up, moving around. As a result, they’re hungry and require a lot of food.

Imagine that these demanding visitors gradually leave, one by one, and the remaining folks start lying on the couch. This is like your muscles becoming smaller and weaker. These relaxed visitors don’t need as much food, but you keep buying the same amount of groceries that you bought when you had a big group of active guests. This is like eating the same amount of calories you did when you had more muscle. Gradually, your cupboards and refrigerator overflow with unused food. This is like storing up fat from those unnecessary calories.

Even if your body weight stays the same, less of your weight is from muscle and more is from fat. That’s because calories are stored (as fat) when there is less muscle to burn them. More fat equals less calorie-burning muscle. Internally, the extra fat increases your risk of diabetes, stroke and some cancers. Externally, your body shape changes as muscle morphs to fat. This means bigger jeans and fewer fitted tops.

Also, the strength of your muscles is related to the strength of your bones. Women are likely more focused on keeping their bones dense and strong than on maintaining their muscles, because the medical establishment, society and the media have put more focus on preventing osteoporosis. However, when your muscles are weak, your bones are more likely to be weak. Exercise that helps your muscles helps your bones, too.

Declining muscle mass and strength also mean you’ll be less likely to get around in your later years. Being able to move freely is a crucial component of healthy aging. Whether it’s continuing your workout schedule at the gym, carrying groceries, cleaning your home, getting in and out of a chair or stepping in and out of your shower, your ability to do these activities helps determine your independence.

Finally, shrinking muscles may grow less responsive to insulin. Your muscles are avid consumers of glucose, or blood sugar, but they need to use the hormone insulin so the blood sugar can enter their cells. When they become insulin resistant, the sugar can’t enter. This puts you at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, which in turn raises your risk of heart disease, stroke and, perhaps, Alzheimer’s.

So, maintaining your muscles isn’t just an exercise in vanity.  It’s about staying fit, vital, independent and free of disease. Best of all, you have a lot of control over your muscle mass and strength -- more than you realize. Experts have seen that declining muscle isn’t just an unpreventable fact of aging. In large part it’s due to lack of use. Still, even people in their 90s can show impressive strength gains with exercise. Most women -- whether young, boomers or seniors -- are in a prime position to prevent the serious consequences of muscle loss.  

As you age, a number of changes occur in your skeletal muscles, which are the ones that move your arms, your legs and the rest of your body. You lose muscle mass -- you simply have less of the stuff. Your nervous system becomes less efficient at prompting your muscles to move. Fat and connective tissue start developing within your muscles, leaving less muscle tissue to contract to move your body.

However, it’s worth repeating: Although some muscle changes over the course of your life are caused by hormonal processes, shrinking muscle mass and decreasing strength aren’t caused by age alone. Here are some of the factors that contribute to declining muscles as you venture into your later years.

Lack of use. Your body is designed to move, and lack of movement is a significant factor in muscle decline. Studies have shown that even young people’s muscle mass and strength quickly deteriorate when they’re confined to bed rest. And research has found that older men and women who are less active have less muscle mass and more disability. Conversely, training programs of just a few months in duration have been shown to significantly increase older people’s strength. Even frail people who’ve already passed their 90th birthday can add muscle mass and strength. And if you can improve your muscles’ capability deep into your 90s, there’s no excuse for slacking off now whether you’re 30-, 50- or 70-something!

Insufficient protein. The current RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for protein -- the amount that people are supposed to get each day -- is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight for adults. So if you weigh 130 pounds (59 kilograms), you need 47 grams of protein daily. I recommend that 30 percent of your daily calories come from lean protein (with 45 percent from complex carbs and 25 percent from good fats).
This is a little higher than the RDA, but you will be exercising and building muscle as a part of the Biggest Loser plan. Experts are discovering that many older people aren’t getting enough protein in their diets . . . and that the 0.8 grams per kilogram recommendation may not be enough in the first place. Whether or not your goal is weight loss, if you’re trying to build muscle (and burn fat), it’s crucial that your protein needs are being met. Individual protein recommendations vary per person, depending on weight and body composition. If you have any health conditions, such as kidney disease, that may affect your protein requirements, consult with your medical provider to determine your personal protein requirement.

Hormonal changes. Women - if you’re on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), you’ve probably learned firsthand that extra estrogen can cause a weight gain in fat, not muscle. Discuss the estrogen and progesterone balance of your HRT with your doctor, and be sure to stay on top of your exercise routine, even if that means consulting a personal trainer to get you started.

Next week I'll continue with ways to measure (and build!) your muscle

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This video misrepresents itself. Although the title is Low Impact Aerobics, it is not low impact. The cardio intervals include jogging, jumping jacks, and other moves with hops. This is a 65-minute reissue of a 1988 video that features Janet Jones-Gretzky, who is so slim that you can count her ribs through her white leotard, leading a class of fit, gorgeous exercisers (female and male). This aerobic interval workout combines fast cardio (no patterns) with more controlled cardio plus weights, though still at a fast pace. We've learned a lot about exercise since 1988, and these two-second reps with weights are not as effective as slower reps. They are also more likely to lead to injury. Although the video is targeted to all levels, unless you're an experienced exerciser, it's too easy to lose correct form when you're doing such fast reps and aerobic moves at the same time. You might find the weight intervals repetitious (tons of lunges and shoulder presses). A floor-work segment uses ankle weights, followed by a stretch. Unless you miss the old Firm workouts, choose one that is more up to date (and therefore safer and more effective). --Joan Price

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