STRENGTH TRAINING YOU SHOULD BE DOING IT!

BY ALEX BOERSMA, TORONTO FIRE CAPTAIN, STATION 426-D

Muscle mass and strength. Two things most firefighters take for granted. We are strong. Our occupation requires that we are strong. The possibility that we might lose strength is a faint consideration we are unlikely to entertain until well after retirement.

But the consequences of delaying consideration of muscle and strength loss are significant. We are firefighters, but we are also human. And humans lose about 3-5% of their muscle mass each decade between 30 and 60, with a much more precipitous decline after that. More importantly, most muscle mass loss is in our fast twitch fibres, resulting in even more rapid declines in strength and power. After age 50, we see strength loss of 3-5% per year!

The consequences on the fireground can be profound. Tasks that seemed routine when you were 30, may become strenuous when you are 55. Because you are operating at a higher percentage of maximal strength, each task requires more energy and contributes more towards depleting your work capacity. If a task requires speed or power, you will not be able to complete it as quickly or efficiently.

More important, however, are the health consequences. Muscle is a highly metabolically active tissue and contributes significantly to overall health. Many diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and cognitive decline are negatively associated with both muscle mass and strength. Without strength training, loss of bone mass with ageing becomes almost inevitable. Strength, in particular, is impressively associated with overall mortality. If we want to perform well in the latter stages of our career and maintain health and vitality well into retirement, we must consider reversing or, at least, slowing the predictable decline in strength and muscle mass associated with ageing. The best way of doing this is through strength training. Although other activities, like aerobic training and yoga can be vital to health and may help to preserve some muscle mass and strength, they are by no means as potent as strength training.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to become a bodybuilder. The truth is, most of the health and performance declines mentioned above are much more distinctly associated with loss of strength and power than they are with loss of muscle mass. Although muscle mass is a significant contributor to strength and power, it by no means defines them. By focusing training appropriately, you can increase strength and power significantly with only modest increases in muscle mass.

What to do?

• WEEKLY FREQUENCY. MOST RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE STRENGTH AND/OR GROW MUSCLES IS TO TARGET EACH MUSCLE GROUP AT LEAST TWICE PER WEEK. THIS CAN BE DONE IN MANY WAYS, BUT HERE ARE TWO OF THE MOST COMMON: o Upper/lower body split. Upper body one day, lower body the next day, rest a day and repeat. o Full body workouts, two or three times per week. Squat, lunge, lift, push and pull. o Note that if you are just tr ying to maintain the muscle you already have, hitting each muscle group once a week is probably sufficient. o For maintenance, 2-5 sets once a week is sufficient o For muscle mass, you can use numerous rep schemes varying from 4-5 sets of 4-6 reps with heavy loads all the way to 1-2 sets of 20-30 reps with light to moderate loads. Regardless of how you do it, you must use adequate load to ensure that you are getting close to muscular failure for the last few reps of every set. o For strength, it will be most important to stick to the lower end of rep ranges with heavier loads. Doing 3-5 sets of 4-8 reps is a good place to start. Although increasing muscle mass will almost always help with strength, doing at least some of your sets with heavier loads will ensure that you optimize the “skill” part of lifting or moving heavy things.

• SETS. TO INCREASE STRENGTH AND/OR MUSCLE MASS, TRY 4-10 SETS OF EXERCISES PER MUSCLE GROUP EACH WEEK, SPLIT OVER THE NUMBER OF WORKOUTS YOU DO. PERFORMING 2-5 SETS PER MUSCLE GROUP, TWICE A WEEK, IS A GOOD TARGET.

• REPS. REP SCHEMES WILL VARY SIGNIFICANTLY, DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOUR PRIORITY IS BUILDING MUSCLE MASS (HYPERTROPHY) OR STRENGTH.

• PRINCIPLES. THERE ARE THREE MAIN PRINCIPLES YOU SHOULD CONSIDER: o PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD. For your muscles to adapt, they must be challenged with continuous, incremental increases in demand. These can be manipulated in many ways (more load, more reps with the same load, less rest between sets, etc.). o SPECIFICITY/EXERCISE SELECTION. Although your muscles will definitely grow with isolated movements like bicep curls and leg extensions, gains in strength are very specific to the movement patterns that you use while exercising. Performing leg extensions will make you better at leg extensions, but the strength carryover to functional movements like squats and lunges will be limited. Therefore, those who are prioritizing strength improvements should probably focus more on movement patterns than on muscle groups when selecting exercises. o INTERFERENCE. When you do a lot of aerobic training concurrently (on the same day or week as your strength training), the aerobic adaptations may interfere with your potential to adapt to the strength training. This is only an issue for people who are doing more than about 4 or 5 hours of aerobic training per week. If you do a lot of aerobic training but need to add some muscle mass/ strength, you may want to consider using a period of each year to prioritize strength. For example, you might take 3-4 months where you do 3 or 4 strength workouts per week while maintaining aerobic fitness with 2 or 3 hours of aerobic work. The rest of the year you can go back to prioritizing aerobic training while maintaining strength with 1 or 2 strength workouts per week.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1 Medium Onion

6 Stems Chive

1 Sprig Thyme

5 Cloves Garlic

1 Tablespoon Ginger

2 Unit Scotch Bonnet

4 Pimento

1 Tablespoon Ground Allspice

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1 Tablespoon Five Spice Powder

1 Tablespoon Black Pepper

½ Teaspoon Salt

½ Cup Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

3 Pounds Chicken Legs and Thighs

Directions

1. In a blender, add and blend all of the ingredients except for the chicken.

2. In a bowl, place the chicken and pierce each piece multiple times with a small knife, to allow seasonings to penetrate the meat.

3. Add blended seasonings to the chicken ensuring that all pieces are coated evenly.

4. Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours (for best results marinate overnight).

5. Preheat oven to 350˚F (180˚C) and line a roasting pan with foil.

6. Place seasoned chicken onto pan.

7. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered. If using a grill, cook over a medium heat until chicken is completely cooked.

Cook time: 45min + prep time

DID YOU KNOW?

Sunday, June 1, 2008 has been considered the biggest catastrophe in music history and even coined ‘The Day the Music Burned’.

There was a backlot fire at Universal Studios Hollywood where music masters and film archives were stored. Musical archives and master recordings from classic artists like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Elton John, the Eagles, R.E.M., Aerosmith, Iggy Pop, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Janet Jackson, No Doubt, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Eminem and 50 Cent and the Roots to Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana were all burned. This was a massive hit to the music community as master recordings from musicians are considered oneof-a-kind artifacts and are irreplaceable documents. Not to mention, the warehouse environment made it difficult to extinguish the fire. It wasn’t long before the firefighters on the scene had to mix up their tactics by using bulldozers and heavy machiner y to knock down sections of the burning warehouse to clear away barriers to give them access. It took almost 24 hours to control and put out the final flames of such a destructive fire.

To read the full story of The Day the Music Burned Google: The Day the Music BurnedNew York Times