My framework for exercise is built upon four pillars: stability, strength, aerobic efficiency, and anaerobic performance. Strength may be the most intimidating of the four, especially for people who aren’t accustomed to strength training.
In its simplest form, strength means utilizing muscle to generate force. And if you are interested in living a long and healthy life and playing with your great-grandkids someday, then muscle mass should be a priority. Never in the history of human civilization has a 90-year-old said, “I wish I had less muscle.”
Below are a compilation of clips, podcasts, and articles specifically discussing the longevity benefits from greater muscle mass and strength, as well as tactics for preserving muscle mass.
“The real utility of using blood flow restriction is the fact that you can use it with very low loads…we’ve tried to combine it with high loads and in different aspects, and other people have run training studies with it, but it’s not additive; it doesn’t add anything more to high-low training” – Jeremy Loekenne
“I always tell people, I don’t think I would’ve had the success I did in business or social media or academia if I hadn’t done weightlifting because that taught me so much about other things in life.” —Layne Norton
“Any meaningful form of exercise that’s going to do substantial amounts of good is going to involve dealing with discomfort in one form or another.” —Alex Hutchinson
“If you restore insulin sensitivity, you’re better able to access and burn fat.” — Dom D’Agostino
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“If you are interested in longevity, if you are interested in playing with your great grandkids, you want to prioritize muscle mass. Never in the history of civilization has a 90 year old said, ‘I wish I had less muscle.’” —Peter Attia
But in the short-term (at least up to a week for most people), I believe you can maintain muscle mass while fasting, particularly if you’re resistance training.
All of this is very interesting, but what I find much more interesting in this study is that the placebo group did not lose any substantive LBM, while losing about the same amount of fat (10 lb) as the testosterone group, despite the severe CR/energy-deficit.
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Criticism and skepticism can be far more useful than praise and unflinching belief.
There’s an art and science to critical thinking and how to conduct yourself. There’s a multitude of fallacious appeals we could spell out, but a good rule of thumb is not to attack the person, attack the ideas. Don’t look for the flaws in the person, look for the flaws in the hypothesis. Let’s keep the brawling to movies depicting minor league hockey teams and political “news” shows.
Thank you for adding to the discussion.
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