Never Let Go!

The best way to stay fit & able-bodied long in to ‘old age’…

Rage against the dying of the light.

In his book, ‘Never Let Go’, the great Dan John writes of the science that explains how, in age, slow twitch muscle fibres shorten and atrophy (shrink) whilst fast twitch muscle fibers weaken and/or decline in number.

He says that he experienced an ’A-ha’ moment when he realised that a lifelong career in Olympic lifting may be the tonic that has kept him very strong and mobile well into his 50s and beyond. (Dan is 60 this year).

The lower body and postural muscles generally seem to have a larger cross section of slow twitch in comparison to the upper body, which is more fast ( type 2) dominant. There is a mix across the board.

The degenerative loss of muscle is clinically referred to as Sarcopenia. But what this tells us is that the phrase ‘lengthen before you strengthen’ is even more important with the older population. It also tells us that forms of strength and power training are just as important (if not more) as we age.

Now, do older people need to perform single leg box jumps? Perhaps not. But can we use dynamic med ball variations and practice power output as we fire up the CNS in nearly every member of the gym population? Yes – and we should.

—— Another reason that an optimal plan for increasing strength and power is even more important for the older populations.——

The takeaway? Stretching is not bad – never has been and never will be. Neither is mobility or self-myofascial release. Strength is never a weakness, and power should be the last thing we lose.

The Science: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4414960/

Stay strong,

Coach Fletch.

Author - Fletcher Dalrymple - Personal Trainer & Mentor

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