Quotations by Philip Shepherd

The difference between a young person comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt in temperature that would send an elderly person reaching for a down coat is largely due to a difference in muscle mass. Our ability to synthesize energy, to remain slim, to resist disease, to stand upright-all are affected by the strength of our muscles. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

Researchers consistently found that greater muscle mass led to better outcomes across a wide range of conditions. Patients with more muscle had better overall survival rates, better responses to cancer therapies, and better outcomes where chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was a factor; they also showed decreases in Alzheimer's disease, length of stay in the ICU, and complications due to surgery. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

The ability to do push-ups in a cohort of men is more strongly associated with future cardiovascular risk than the treadmill stress test; and that cardiovascular adaptations actually take place primarily in muscle tissue, rather than in the heart and lungs. A study found that participants who had completed more than 40 push-ups were 96% less likely to suffer a cardiovascular problem than those who completed fewer than 10 push-ups. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

Strength training has a moderating effect on many conditions that increase the risk of cancer-conditions such as insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and visceral fat. It also promotes conditions that decrease the risk of cancer, such as the functioning of the immune system. A myokine known as interleukin-6, for instance, reduces tumor volume by supporting the infiltration of the tumor by natural killer cells. Strength training also lowers the risk of cancer by activating two players that are crucial to cellular health-apoptosis and autophagy. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

Six principles for strength training: 1) Overload; 2) Progressive training; 3) Momentary muscle failure; 4) One set only; 5) Slow is better; 6) Sufficient recovery time. Taken together, those principles form the basis of what is known as High-Intensity Training, or HIT for short. People are invariably doing the conventional workout of multiple sets of fairly fast reps. And there's nothing wrong with that if you enjoy it, have the time, and don't injure yourself. But research shows that HIT delivers equal results in a fraction of the time. Intensity is more important than duration, whether you're doing aerobic exercise--high-intensity interval training exemplifies the rule of thumb--or strength training. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

You work the larger muscles first and progress to smaller ones as you go, because larger muscle groups will activate the nervous system, hormone circulation, and blood circulation more quickly, which preps the whole body. If one of your goals is to improve your cardio, try to keep the interval between exercises to less than 30 seconds. Remember, the number of reps doesn't matter. What's worth noticing and recording is how long your muscles are able to work slowly against the resistance before failing--what's know as 'time under load'. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

You can use free weights for MSTF (Mindful Strength Training to Failure)--but for certain exercises, such as the squat or the bench press, reaching muscular failure while a heavy weight is balanced above you could be hazardous. Whatever load you're moving, it helps to be present to it not as an enemy to be conquered, but as a partner that is helping you into an exploration you couldn't achieve without it. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

Having completed one set to failure, there is no advantage in doing a second set. The set will have taken between 90 and 120 seconds from start to finish. If your time falls significantly outside that range, make a note to adjust the difficulty the next time. On a machine, that means increasing or decreasing the weight. If you're new to strength training and have lost muscle mass, you might be able to do a workout three times a week. As you get stronger, that will decrease to twice a week, then perhaps to once a week. Research has also shown that it's inadvisable to do aerobic exercise on the same day as an MSTF session, as doing so may inhibit the benefits of the strength training. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

One half-hour session of MSTF a week will be sufficient for all your major muscle groups to get stronger. Two sessions would likely help you do that more quickly. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

Consistent, moderate exercise is wonderful for one's health: walking, gardening, going for a bike ride--it all helps. In fact, walking after an MSTF workout may moderate the short-lived inflammation that sets in. On the other hand, moderate exercise is no substitute for MSTF. In deed, people who rely on a walking program for fitness will typically lose between 4 and 6 pounds of lean muscle every decade. Moderate steady-state activities like walking, running, or swimming help keep us healthy--but without regular resistance exercise that enlists and overloads our larger muscles, sarcopenia will progress, along with its attendant risk factors. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

A single minute's worth of hard exercise three times a week can provide the same cardiorespiratory benefits as 45 minutes of endurance training three times a week. There is no question that endurance training will help you get fit. If you enjoy going for long, easy runs, keep it up! You're going to benefit from them in many, many ways. But there is a certain alchemy in the body that is activated by intensity. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

Prolonged aerobic training (e.g. swimming, cycling and walking) is widely beneficial to all body systems, but there are clinical evidences suggesting that none of these activities provide an adequate stimulus to bones. Progressive resistance exercise has been highlighted as the most promising intervention to maintain or increase bone mass and density. Yes, it's intense, but because it's so slow it's also low impact. Furthermore, because the muscles are contracting with intensity, they release myokines that stimulate an increase in bone mineral density. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

You may drink a high-quality, pure whey protein isolate shortly after each workout. Especially in the 24-hour period following an intense MSTF session, it's important to provide your body with enough high-quality protein to facilitate the remodeling that your workout has made a priority. If you add in a little fasting once in a while, you'll be providing a double stimulus to your 'survival circuit'--MSTF plus fasting--that will create a highly beneficial activation of your longevity genes. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

With every MSTF set you do, move against the resistance slowly, smoothly, and with control. Take a minimum of 4 seconds to go from the bottom of the movement to the top, and vice versa. You can take as much as 30 seconds in either direction, but not less than 4. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

MSTF is designed to be progressive. There are always adjustments being made to the resistance, or the speed at with you lower the weight on the last rep, to bring the targeted muscles to failure somewhere in the time-efficient sweet spot between 90 and 120 seconds. If you're reaching failure in less than 70 seconds on a machine, consider decreasing the resistance by 5%. If using a resistance band, try one with lower resistance. If using your body weight, simply maintain your slow, controlled cadence and you'll grow stronger, or try finishing with negative-only reps after failing on the positives. If you're reaching failure at or beyond the upper limit of 120 seconds, you can increase the resistance by 5% on a machine, or go to a resistance band with greater resistance. If using your body weight, you can slow down your cadence--for instance, from 4 seconds to 6 seconds. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

There are two types of exercise that should be included in a routine, because they contribute to your strength in different ways. Compound exercises involve more than one join (when you do a Chest Press, for example, your shoulder, elbows, and wrists are all involved in doing the work). Single-joint exercises focus on the muscles that move a single joint through its full range of motion (a good example is the Leg Extension, in which a leg begins bent at less than 90 degrees, and then pushes against a resistance to straighten itself). [2021] - Philip Shepherd

There are two practices that I try do every week. The first is the 5BX program developed by the Royal Canadian Air Force. I also do a session of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) once a week. I settled on a 9½-minute HIIT workout that I've adapted from one descripted by fitness expert Clarence Bass. Here's how it goes: 1) 3-minute easy warmup; 2) 30 seconds all-out sprint; 3) 1½ minutes easy recovery; 4) 30 seconds all-out sprint; 5) 1½ minutes easy recovery; 6) 30 seconds all-out sprint; 7) 2 minutes easy cool-down. [2021] - Philip Shepherd

ROM means Range of Motion. When moving a weight ruing an exercise, the targeted muscles are lengthened in the starting position, and then as they slowly contract they move the weight through its range of motion until they arrive at the point where they are fully contracted as the exercise allows. From that position of contraction, the targeted muscles then begin to lengthen again, lowering the weight through the range of motion to return to the starting position. [2021] - Philip Shepherd