In this post, I will cover 3 ways to exercise in a week for overall health. Getting older doesn’t have to be as grim as some make it sound. There are specific forms of movement you can do to ensure you maintain overall health and wellness. Take action for the long run, so you can do the things you love into old age.
With the current research, it’s actually not too hard to build your own training program. Sure you may need help with technique and making sure you don’t over or under-train by having correct cycles, but for the most part, it’s very doable.
Here’s a guide that will set you up well for the long haul. You may be able to significantly increase your healthspan just by getting into a good movement and exercise routine.
One week should consist of at least one session of each of the below listed;
1. Low-intensity recovery session
2. Resistance training
3. High-intensity interval training
Low-Intensity Recovery Session
This session is longer in duration. It should range from 20-30mins. Of course, you can work up to that. You want to be doing something that is quite consistent in its demand for work i.e. running, biking, kayaking, or swimming.
What: You should work at a pace that you feel like you could maintain for a long while and you would still be able to speak with someone but may need to catch your breath once in a longer sentence. You can do this a few times a week, however, a great place to start is once a week.
Why: This type of activity will increase your VO2 Max. That’s just a fancy way of saying you are building your body’s efficiency to make energy using oxygen. It also has a crazy capacity of building more routes for blood to flow to all your tissues. This is called capilarisation, as all the tiny blood vessels are called capillaries. This type of recovery session also increases circulation enough without demanding too much from your body. This allows you to recover from other workouts in the week with better blood flow around the body, delivering all the good recovery and healing components in the blood! Lastly, the mitochondria! The powerhouse of each cell. You can increase the density of these which means you can make more energy more often.
Future You: With a higher VO2 max and mitochondrial density, future you will be able to take care of yourself for much longer than the average person. The average elderly person stops being able to do the fundamentals such as; showering and going to the bathroom. You will be able to go for long walks with friends and family without having to stop and catch your breath… Maybe even runs if you maintain this at a high level!
Resistance Training
Resistance training, also known as weight training can have some intimidating connotations. However, this type of exercise could save your life, quite literally. Muscle tissue is starting to quickly be called an organ by the science community. This is due to its immense capability to regulate hormones and impact many other body processes. This type of training involves moving weight, this might be your body weight in a push-up, or some physical weights in a squat, lunge, or any of the 30,000 other weighted exercises you can perform.
What: Aim for 1-2 sessions a week of resistance training. Examples of how you may want to spilt this could be; 2 shorter full-body sessions per week. Alternatively, you may split them into an upper body and core session one day and a lower body and core the other. Here you should have at least one rest day between each session. You can continue to slowly and steadily increase weight and/or increase reps. A good sign you are ready for this is when the weight you are training at becomes easy. I.e. you can easily complete more than 5 reps.
The 3-5 rule:
Resistance training made easy! Never fear, the latest research backs the 3-5 strength training protocol. This means when you do a strength workout, you should;
– Do 3-5 reps of each exercise
– Do 3-5 sets of said exercise
– Have 3-5 mins rest between sets
– Do 3-5 different exercises
How great?! All you have to remember is 3-5. The one thing you do have to be aware of is that the activity you are doing has to be hard enough that doing 3-5 reps is a challenge, otherwise you aren’t actually strength training.
*This may require supervision from a fitness professional.
Why: This type of exercise increases muscle mass and bone density. This in turn massively decreases your risk of injury and can increase your strength.
Future You: With an increased bone density, you are at a significantly lower risk of developing osteoporosis and in turn sustaining a fracture.
FACT: Studies estimate that 1/3 women and 1/12 men will sustain a hip fracture in their lifetime and up to 58% of these people will die within the first year after the fracture.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
High-intensity interval training in my opinion is one of the most satisfying types of training… The second time around and onwards. The first time is ROUGH. Some people may have done a HIIT class before but to do true HIIT training you must aim to reach and maintain your max heart rate for multiple rounds. This is pushing yourself just to the edge of the vomit point, then recovering for a couple of minutes and working right up to that point again. Trust me, I know, it sounds terrible. However, apart from the health benefits, the reason I like this type of training is because it truly is a test of mental toughness. When you reach your max heart rate, you’ll think you have nothing left in the tank but you certainly do, you’ll just have to dig deep to find it.
What: This can be done as a run, swim, bike, skip, row, with weights, or box jumps, it’s really a matter of choosing your own adventure. You’ll start with a warm-up to get your heart rate up a little and then quickly ramp up to your maximum heart rate. This is much easier if you have some type of HR tracker like a watch or a chest strap. maintain the highest intensity you possibly can for approximately 1 minute. You can work up to this from as little as 20 seconds per round. Important: rest for 3x the amount of time you worked for ie if you complete 20-second rounds, rest for 60 seconds then repeat. Start out with 3-4 rounds then build to 6+. When starting a regime like this it would be ideal to include once a week.
Why: This type of training increases your heart’s capacity to do work and actually increases the muscle size and strength of your heart. This over time will lower your resting HR which is a great parameter of general health. It challenges your blood vessels to change shape, giving your body better control of your blood pressure. HIIT increases your body’s efficiency at producing energy as well as improving your ability to recover. Fast twitch fibres will be utilised in the intervals which inevitably decrease when we age.. use it or lose it!
Future You: Lowering your resting heart rate is a protective factor from the leading cause of death; Ischaemic heart disease. With better blood vessel health you may maintain a healthy blood pressure for longer. This especially helps when standing up after sitting or lying in bed, you’re much less likely to experience that big headspin. Another plus is not having those varicose veins pop up!
Future-you would thank you. More energy means more time being with your loved ones and doing the activities that you did with your kids, and now with your grandkids too. Lastly, thankfully for the fast twitch fibres you maintained, when you tripped on something that you didn’t see (because your eyesight is not the greatest anymore) your muscles are more reactive and were waiting and ready to catch you before you fell!
References
Huberman Lab Podcast:
https://hubermanlab.com/dr-andy-galpin-optimal-protocols-to-build-strength-and-grow-muscles/
https://hubermanlab.com/dr-andy-galpin-how-to-build-strength-muscle-size-and-endurance/
https://hubermanlab.com/dr-andy-galpin-how-to-build-physical-endurance-and-lose-fat/
Research papers:
Hip Fracture Article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597289/#:~:text=In%20usual%20care%2C%20the%20reported,58%25%20(Table%201).&text=The%20relative%20risk%20of%20mortality,population%20increases%204%25%20per
Longevity Articles
https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/0197458085900661
https://www-nature-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/articles/s41574-022-00641-2
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34925198/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It is important to consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program, particularly if you have any medical conditions, injuries, or concerns. The author and publisher of this post are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences that may arise from following the information in this post without appropriate professional medical supervision.