Why Age?

Grow stronger as you age

“For what utterance can be more pitiful than that of Milo of Crotona?
After he was already an old man and was watching the athletes training in the race-course, it is related that, as he looked upon his shrunken muscles, he wept and said:
“Yes, but they are now dead.”

Cicero (4BC-65AD), De Senectute 9.27

Poor Milo. If only he had continued his training regime, he might have enjoyed a more robust old age.Milo, called by ancient Greek geographer Strabo “the most illustrious of athletes” was a pretty amazing character who transcended both fact and fiction.

He first competed as a wrestler at the Olympic Games in 540BC where he won the boy’s division. He returned eight years later and commenced a winning streak that did not cease until his sixth Olympiad in 512BC. That’s five titles in a row, a feat unmatched by any modern Olympian. The Games were held, as now, at four year intervals so Milo must have been over 40 when he triumphed at the 67th Olympiad. That’s an astonishing achievement by today’s standards and almost unbelievable considering athletes of the ancient world had short careers and were rarely competitive past their prime.

Clearly Milo was made of stern stuff: a Muhammad Ali of his times. He was said to clamp his elbow to his side and spread his fingers and stick his thumb up and invite attempts to twist his digits. No one could as much as bend his little finger. He would stand on a greased disk and challenge anyone to push him off. No one could. Another of his tricks was to hold a pomegranate tightly in his fist and dare someone to take it from him. Of course no one could and the fruit even remained undamaged.

Milo’s legendary demise has been immortalized by painters and sculptors of more recent times. Perhaps you have seen baroque French sculptor Pierre Puget’s (1671-1684) rendition in marble of his tragic fate at the Louvre. He was supposed to have been in the woods and could not resist the temptation of testing his (now failing) strength by prising apart a tree stump, split by wedges. He succeeded, the wedges fell out but the stump trapped his hand and he was left to be devoured by a lion.

The point of this historical ramble is that Milo had the means at his disposal to keep training his body into old age so that he was not left to lament its decay.

At the start of a four year training period for the next Games, he would hoist a new-born calf onto his shoulders and walk a mile. By the time the games rolled around he was carting a fully grown oxen, and that’s a lot of weight.

He was the father of progressive resistance training.

After one victory he was awarded his prize, an oxen, and this inveterate show-off immediately hoisted it onto his shoulders and walked the length of the stadium to tumultuous applause. He then proceeded to eat it after it was slaughtered and roasted. Presumably the gods received a small portion as sacrifice but Milo was said to have spent an entire day munching on the rare treat until it was all gone.

Perhaps some of Milo’s exploits can be considered legendary but there is no doubt there were some strong people around in ancient Greece who practised an early form of weight training.

Move Over Bam Bam

My favourite bit of evidence for this is a massive boulder of sandstone from the early sixth century BC sitting on a plinth in the Archaeological Museum in Olympia in Greece. It bears an inscription:

“Bybon son of Phola has lifted me overhead with one hand”

The stone resembles a prop from The Flintstones, weighs 316 lbs and has a handle cut into it. We know stone-lifting was a sport practised in those times, but one hand? That’s seriously strong. Modern weightlifters have attempted this feat and are unable to duplicate it. If one of these guys was unable to bend Milo’s little finger then the famous wrestler really was a superman.

Don’t get me started on the training methods and near-vegetarian diets of ancient athletes. That’s another story I will cover in future. For now, let’s focus on avoiding Milo’s fate and consider weight training as an anti-ageing measure. Don’t be scared off by talk of greasy disks, unyielding fingers, unliftable stones and uncrushable pomegranates.

Any weight training you will do will be safe and appropriate.

If you already pump iron, continue to do so, and never stop. Just modify the intensity as you age so weight training remains a healthy companion and not a dangerous chore. If you have never done weight training, start now under competent supervision and make it part of your age-slowing regime as the rewards are boundless.

Benefits of Weight Training

The effect of weight training on the elderly is the subject of many studies:

• Ontario’s McMaster University found a 12 month strength program increased the spinal bone mass of a group of post-menopausal women by a startling 9 per cent. A control group who did not train suffered a decline in bone mass.
• A Journal of the American Medical Association - published study showed women over 70 who lifted weights twice weekly avoided expected bone mass loss and in fact increased density.
• One study looked at 80 to 90 year olds living in nursing homes who exercised on weight training machines three times per week and found improved strength, balance and walking speed.

So what?

It’s easy from the perspective of health and youth to view these studies with distain but the fact remains that loss of bone and muscle mass (like Milo’s) spell the beginning of physical decline. We all accept that but the consequences for the elderly can mean a loss of independence, reduced mobility and possible internment in a nursing home for the rest of their days. A bad fall often means a turning point in older people’s lives particularly if it results in hip fracture.

Yet here is weight training as a demonstrably preventative measure against this fate.

Miriam Nelson PhD of Tufts University reviewed 17 strength training studies among older persons and catalogued the following benefits:

• Increased bone and muscle mass
• Increased flexibility
• Increased dynamic balance
• Increased self confidence and esteem

If that’s not enough, she further concluded that symptoms of these chronic maladies were reduced:

• Arthritis
• Depression
• Type 2 diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Sleep disorders
• Heart disease

Other studies show weight training participants reduce body fat.

The osteoporosis question is the big one. As both men and women age, less calcium finds its way into the bones because of hormonal, metabolic and behavioural changes. Our skeleton is our mineral “bank” and can be drawn upon for nutrients in times of illness. Once it becomes porous, risk of fracture goes up and we generally become more frail. No amount of dietary calcium or magnesium can offset this, according to nutrition biochemists, without the magic factor of weight training to encourage deposition of these bone-strengthening minerals.

I once had the misfortune to fracture a molar below the gum line due to martial arts. A trip to the periodontist to have gum and bone cut away so a crown could be fitted resulted in his cursing as he buzzed away with a cutting tool at my jawbone.

“I’ve never seen such bone density before!” he grunted as he toiled away.

Despite the discomfort, I was pleased years of pumping iron had paid off.

Weight training builds muscle, bone mass, consistently tops studies regarding prevention of diseases as diverse as diabetes and cardiopulmonary and generally makes you feel wonderful. You will have more strength, stamina, muscle tone and function. You will sleep better, worry less, digest your food better and take renewed pride in the way you look an feel.

You will glow.

I picked up my first weight as a fifteen year old in 1971 and have never stopped. I have made some of my closest friends via the gym and have a rewarding career training others.

Training Tips

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends you train 2-3 days per week with a full day’s rest between sessions.

I offer the following recommendations:

•  Warm up thoroughly first with 5 minutes minimum aerobic activity like walking or the cardio machines such as the rower or stepper.
• Stretch for 5 minutes first. Hold all stretches for at least 15 seconds.
• Train all major muscle groups. This means legs, chest and back. These complex groups also work shoulders and arms. By all means do specific movements for these areas but don’t get stuck on doing arm curls at the expense of more productive areas like the legs.
• Go easy at first, take time to build “gym” fitness.
• Do sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.
• Climb the “pyramid”. First set easy, then increase weight moderately each set until you reach the top, then conclude with a light set. Aim to do 3-4 sets of each exercise totalling 15 to 20 sets per session.
• Do “circuit training” - move from one station to the next with minimal rest. Do not get stuck on one exercise, standing or sitting around for minutes at a time between sets.
• Aim to spend at least 30 minutes in actual weight training. Recommendations of ten or fifteen minutes do not allow for adequate warm up. This is a goal, however. You have the rest of your life to train and don’t need to do it all in one session.
• Stay focused. Chat and other distractions promote cooling off.
• Consider joining a group session or employing competent supervision initially.
• Use good form. Do each movement through as large a range of motion as possible. Lift a little more explosively than you lower. Lower more slowly than you lift and always under smooth control.
• Never struggle with weights or try to lift too heavy. The last rep or two of each set should be a moderate challenge but no more. Train, don’t strain.
• Reduce rest time between sets before you increase weights.
• Always conclude with cool-down stretching and keep your muscles warm with adequate clothing after training.

That’s it for now. Weight training is a subject dear to my heart and good for yours so I will come back to it in more detail in future.

Put some bone and muscle in your body bank now, for the future.