Weights, Weight and Health: Why I Choose Consistency and Intensity
My four pillars of health are weight training, yoga and meditation, diet, and sleep. I started these monthly reflections on health last month, prompted by my yoga practice. This month, I'll focus on weight training.
After decades of a love-hate relationship with gyms and weights, I started my current once-a-week strength-training routine in January 2018. I was inspired by my friend and financial advisor, Andrew, who spoke highly of a method called SuperSlow and had seen excellent results from it. Amy, my wife and I went for an introductory session next week and have never looked back. We started seeing results in 6 months and that prompted Amy to change her career to become a Superslow personal trainer.
I had always struggled with two things at the gym: the amount of time it consumed and figuring out a routine that would consistently challenge me enough to keep getting stronger without losing motivation. SuperSlow solved both in ways that fit my personality and I could do it in my office clothes!
Once a week, I spend 30 minutes with a trainer. The trainer chooses a routine of about seven exercises. Each involves very slow repetitions at a weight designed to bring the muscle/muscle group to failure in roughly two minutes. Cross the two-minute threshold and the weight goes up next time. Every repetition is logged by hand on a card. The numbers keep inching forward. A little more weight here, a few more seconds under load there. Over time, you find yourself pushing some significant weight and getting stronger.
This month I chest pressed 220 lbs, pulled down 329 lbs, and leg pressed 758 lbs.
Showing up consistently these past 9 years made a difference. But so does what you do when you show up. These workouts are intense. They deliberately take the muscles to failure. For me, that combination i.e. high intensity for a short period, repeated consistently over years, has worked remarkably well. It has also probably given me a little more latitude to enjoy eating out without adding as many unwanted pounds.
Then you hit 50, and the body seems to start protesting more. Joints hurt. Recovery takes longer. There always seems to be an injury somewhere keeping you company. Ultimately, we can't turn back the clock. But we can invest in our bodies so they are better able to support us through life. I've also been thinking about what "support" means to me. It isn't about how much weight I can lift or what I look like. It's about being physically capable of showing up for myself and for the people I care about through whatever life throws at us. To be able to do the things I want to for as long as feasible. e.g. travel, climb Mount Kilimanjaro with Amy, run a mile race with Reva. Consistent strength training is a means to that end. And CityWide SuperSlow, my current trainer Rich and all my other trainers have helped me stay consistent with strength training for almost nine years and I’m grateful.
My other health pillars progressed as expected this month, and I continue to learn about, work on, and refine my diet.
Yesterday, I completed 500 consecutive days of 45 minutes yoga practice and another month of daily meditation. I’ve started incorporating some weights into my yoga practice.
Barring a few sleepless nights caused by travel delays and the occasional disruptions of life, I slept reasonably well clocking an average of 7 hours a night. I was able to incorporate a few hours of walking each week with the Economist or an audio book for company.
Last month, I decided to pay closer attention to my diet. I had 67 tracked meals: 43 home-cooked and 22 restaurant meals; 55 were shared with family or friends. Those numbers reminded me that food isn't only nutrition. It is also family, friendship and experience. Physical health has to make room for activities that enable relationships and emotional connection.
Last month, I mentioned the Claude app I built to help track my health and this past week I downloaded Meta Muse which has a health tracker feature that i need to explore. I'll return to these next month, because I'm becoming increasingly interested in another question: Can personalized technology help us become more consistent in how we pursue our health? If so, how?
For now, my lesson from this month is simpler. They often say consistency beats intensity. Perhaps. But I think that's a false choice. Especially when it comes to health. Consistency is necessary but not sufficient. Intensity and sincerity when you show up delivers the results you seek. I'm just not convinced we have to or should choose between them.
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