Resistance Training & Muscle Physiology

• Resistance training involves using external resistance to progressively overload skeletal muscle.
• The goal of resistance training is to adapt the muscle tissue.
• Resistance training increases muscular strength and muscular endurance, and promotes hypertrophy.

Paradigm Shift in Resistance Training

• Once focused on De Lorme's work with war veterans, traditional resistance training, hypertrophy, strength, and power
• Today, resistance training is recognized as vital for overall health and general fitness.

Muscle Physiology

• Muscles are malleable and adapt in response to external stimuli.
• The principles of muscle adaptation include specificity, overload, and progression.
• Type I and Type II (A and B) are the two muscle fiber types.

Muscle Fiber Types

• Fiber types differences are from myoglobin content and capillarization.

Muscle Adaptation

• Muscles adapt to increase force production through hypertrophy.
• Atrophy - muscles shrink
• Hypertrophy - muscles grow
• Hyperplasia - increase in the number of muscle fibers

Resistance Training Process

• Resistance Training Session damages muscle protein.
• The muscle protein is then re-synthesized.
• This leads to skeletal muscle development.

Factors Affecting Muscle Protein Turnover

• Training stimulus, dietary variables (fasted/protein intake), and rest and recovery.
• When fasted there is negative protein balance.
• When a surplus of protein is present along with rest and recovery, there is positive protein balance in the blood.

Benefits Include

• People of all ages and abilities who regularly participate in resistance exercise reduce risk of numerous diseases, improve quality of life and reduce mortality.

Benefits of Resistance Exercise

• Improved muscle strength, endurance, and power.
• Enhanced communication between the brain and muscles, and blood glucose regulation.
• Bone, muscle, and connective tissue growth and durability.
• Growth hormones.
• Treat arthritis, cancers, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, diabetes, fall risk, frailty, hypertension, insomnia, low back pain, mental health, movement disorders, obesity, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, pulmonary disorders, peripheral vascular disease and stroke.
• Training can be time efficient and effective for health benefits.
• Muscles must be challenged with a specific weight lifted, the number of repetitions performed, and the speed of lifting.
• Combining resistance training with aerobic exercise enhances health gains across the lifespan.

Exercise Plan

• Use free weights, machines, or bands.
• Perform 8-10 multi-joint exercises targeting major muscle groups.
• Complete 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions with good form.
• Lift and lower weight in a controlled manner, taking 2 seconds for each movement.
• The last repetition should be challenging to complete.
• Exercise 2-3 times per week.
• Increase the weight lifted over time to maintain a difficulty level of 8 out of 10 (where 0 is no effort and 10 is the hardest effort).

Skeletal Muscle Mass

• Movement.
• It has the largest consumption of ATP.
• Generation of heat.
• It is a significant factor of BMR.
• Is responsible for Oxidative capacity
• Important for the Disposing of glucose
• Determines "Muscle Quality" (strength per unit of muscle mass).

Resistance Training and Cardio

• Improves insulin resistance as basal insulin levels are inversely related to lean body mass.
• Improves blood lipids, especially in sedentary or diseased populations.
• Provides modest improvements in blood pressure.
• Increases in lean tissue result in improved body composition.

Resistance Training and Weight Loss

• Maintains lean tissue during severe weight loss
• Potentially increases free-living activity, leading to greater energy expenditure.
• Promotes a higher BMR and increase in free-living activity.

Resistance Training and Osteoporosis

• Osteoporosis is a degenerative disease which decreases bone mineral density (BMD).
• Bones become more fragile.
• BMD annually decreases about 0.7%.
• The risk of fractures in the hip, wrist, and vertebrae increases due to weakened bones.
• Fractures can lead to greater risk of death, not directly from the fracture, but from the complications that come from hospitalization with immobilization.

Criteria for Osteoporosis

• Normal: >833 mg/cm2
• Osteopenia: 833 and 648 mg/cm2