DETROIT
— The variations have new names but center on the same main
principle — whether you yank on suspension bands, pull
stretchy rubber tubes, heft a bulbous low-tech kettlebell or
pump traditional free weights, you’re moving your muscles
against resistance. That’s what burns calories while
building healthy, attractive lean muscle tissue. Both lead to
weight loss, a firm physique and a raft of other benefits.
Strength
training is a growing trend, according to the annual survey by
the American College of Sports Medicine. It ranks No. 2 — up
from No. 6 in 2007 — among the most popular trends for 2012,
according to the poll of 2,620 fitness professionals,
including certified trainers and exercise physiologists. And
there’s new evidence that strength and resistance training
can have other benefits as well.
"In
the last decade, research has shown that resistance exercise
can help numerous disease states," including depression,
says Jeffrey Potteiger, dean of graduate studies at Grand
Valley State University near Grand Rapids, Mich.
"You
can improve your overall health just by watching your weight
and taking walks in the neighborhood. But if you want to
improve your fitness — look better, maximize health, have
more energy, prevent injuries — you need to do more,"
said Potteiger, who has spent 24 years doing research on
strength training.
In
recent years, emphasis has shifted to a type of resistance
training that builds muscles used in day-to-day tasks, helping
avoid injury or re-injury. Called functional strength
training, it helps with such chores as hefting infants in and
out of car seats or lifting garage doors. Another goal is to
reduce the risk factors in patients with chronic diseases such
as osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes.
"Part
of my job is trying to convince that 85-year-old woman that
she really should start weight lifting," says Dr. Dennis
Kerrigan, senior exercise physiologist at Henry Ford Health
System’s Center for Athletic Medicine in Detroit. The
bone-strengthening effect of strength training is widely
known. Others who need persuading are women recently treated
for breast cancer, Kerrigan says.
"Friends
and family tell them, ‘Take it easy,’" but
chemotherapy can reduce muscle mass, leaving body fat that’s
linked to cancer returning, he says. The prescription?
Strength training.
"It’s
taken a long time for women to realize how important strength
training is," says YMCA trainer Sandy Gossett at the
South Oakland Family Y in Royal Oak, Mich.
"It’s
always been cardio, cardio, cardio — aerobics. But once they
try it, they’re hooked," Gossett says.
The
first time she tried strength training in one of Gossett’s
classes a year ago, Catherine Goddard says she needed courage.
"I
didn’t think I could lift 5 pounds," says Goddard, 57,
of Royal Oak. She soon learned that the more weightlifting she
did, the stronger she felt in her treadmill workouts. One
success led to another until last month she finished the
Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Half Marathon.
"For
women in particular, they feel empowered from just a couple of
weeks of strength training," says Irene Lewis-McCormick,
author of "A Woman’s Guide to Muscle and Fitness,"
set to be published in February by Human Kinetics. "When
you become stronger, you feel more confident in everything you
do."
(EDITORS:
BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)
Planet
Fitness-Southgate instructor Jon Abbott agrees: "Women
absolutely enjoy it." Of the 260 weekly fitness classes
held each week at Planet Fitness, more than 200 of them
include strength training.
At
Michigan’s six Lifetime Fitness centers, strength training
is built into dozens of classes, says regional group fitness
leader Becky Attard.
"We
like to mimic what you do when you bend over to pick up your
kids, or pick up your dog in my case, or wash the floor, so
you’re not going to be hurting," she says.
(END
OPTIONAL TRIM)
Functional
Integrated Training is the favorite of Kelly Lawson, 49, of
Rochester Hills, Mich. She’s been doing core exercise for
two decades.
"I’ve
got a degenerated disk in my back, but I haven’t needed any
surgery and the doctors attribute that to all the core
exercise I do," says Lawson, who teaches online math
classes for University of Phoenix.
One of
Detroit’s early hubs of strength training was the Powerhouse
Gym on Woodward in Highland Park, founded in 1975.
Now a
global brand, it still has plenty of traditionalists pumping
iron, says personal trainer Tarrance Alfred. But in his
session last week with client Ron Victor, there were no free
weights in sight.
"I
used to have pain in my wrist" after a workout with free
weights, says Victor, 31, a Birmingham, Mich., attorney. But
he says his wrists are fine after Alfred had him switch to
yanking on heavy giant rubber bands — cast off bike inner
tubes — and doing core exercises that are intense variations
of push-ups and other traditional exercises.
So
Victor will never need to put a dumbbell in a suitcase.
"He
can do these things anywhere, even a hotel room," Alfred
says.
(EDITORS:
STORY CAN END HERE)
———
WHAT’S
BEST FOR ME? ADVICE FROM EXPERTS
Q: How
much do I need to sweat?
A: The
American College of Sports Medicine recommends two weekly
strength training exercise sessions plus five sessions of
cardiovascular exercise. Each should last at least 30 minutes.
Q: For
time-pressed people, that’s a lot. What if I can’t do all
that?
A: Grand
Valley State University researcher Jeff Potteiger says that if
all you can do is strength training, that beats couch-sitting.
"Not
everybody likes to run, not everybody likes to swim, and some
people can’t do these things," says Potteiger, who
manages to fit in both strength training and cardiovascular
workouts each week. "To put someone who is extremely
obese on a cardiovascular program is challenging. If they can’t
walk without hurting themselves, why not put them in the
weight room?"
Q: What’s
the best way to work out my whole body?
A: Mix
it up. Doing more than one kind of exercise in the same week
— for example, alternating jogging with strength training
— gives a rest to muscles used in one activity while
engaging fresh ones in the next workout, says personal trainer
and coach Jeff Horowitz.
"It
may sound challenging but the truth is, it’s easier" to
vary your workout through the week, says Horowitz, whose book,
"Smart Marathon Training: Run Your Best Without Running
Yourself Ragged" (Velo Press, $18.95), was published last
month.
Q: I’m
a senior citizen and I’m not sure how to get started with
strength training. Any advice?
A: You
could ease into strength training at home with books, DVDs and
simple equipment. Seniors also can get a free 129-page book or
DVD called "Exercise&Physical Activity Guide"
from the National Institute on Aging; call 800-222-2225 8:30
a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.
(EDITORS:
STORY CAN END HERE)
———
2012
TRENDS
The
American College of Sports Medicine surveyed 2,620
professionals worldwide for trends that are most likely to
predict the future of the health and fitness industry. They
are:
1.
Educated fitness professionals
2.
Strength training
3.
Fitness programs for seniors
4.
Exercise and weight loss
5.
Children and obesity
6.
Personal training
7. Core
training
8. Group
personal training
9. ZUMBA
and other dance workouts
10.
Functional fitness
