the benfits of Strength training in nature.
You might be wondering, why I have included this article but I have tried to link it to our health and well being transformation and nature. This article really describes the benefit I have achieved via strength training but also based on feedback from the community, I updated the article as people have highlighted how they use outdoor gyms in their local parks to incorporate walking and exercise.
The below picture is a forest gym that I stumbled across high in the hills on a walking trail in Zermatt. Switzerland. My son challenged me to a pull up competition, I managed 8 (he stopped at 22) and now I incorporate to my weekly routine to try and beat him next time ! If you are based in the United Kingdom, TGO - Leading Manufacturer and Supplier of Outdoor Gyms | The Great Outdoor Gym Company is a a great company that build outdoor gyms working in partnership with local councils and communities, please check their website for an outdoor gym near you. You can download their app to find your local park our use their gym finder. Find a gym | The Great Outdoor Gym Company.
This is a brilliant way to incorporate fitness into your health and well being routine and spend time in nature.
Outdoor forest gym, Zermatt, Switzerland.
I know what you are thinking, “ I hate the Gym”, “I am too embarrassed to train with the young kids.” And “ I don’t understand the different machines or techniques”. I totally understand and this is the feedback I have received from many men and woman on my social channels. This article is really exploring the research on the importance of strength training.
Remember our goals are different to my 20 year old son for example, he is looking to bulk, build muscles and obtain that six pack definition for his Instagram account, I think they call it becoming hench! This is not my goal but this article explores the benefits and how we can incorporate into a daily and weekly healthy habits routine.
What happens to our muscles when we get older?
As we get older we not only lose some hair on our head, get more wrinkles, increase hair in our ears and nose but we also see a reduction in our lean muscle mass, also known as sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is a type of muscle loss that occurs with aging and immobility, and I have read different estimates in articles but as men we may lose as much as 6% of our muscle mass every decade after your 30th birthday but it increases between 65 and 80 years of age.
1. Set strength training goals and use your “ healthy habit journal” to set small goals that become a habit.
You can add y0ur goals to your personal journal and you can also track your progress and be motivated by your progress. For example, you can use a Joe Wicks beginners HIT ( high intensity training) video exercise that will incorporate bodyweight strength training such as press ups but for the first few weeks you might just kneel down and perform 1 rep. Do not be disillusioned but track your progress in your journal and you will see small progress over a period of time. I have recommended the Joe Wicks free you tube videos as he is brilliant in demonstrating a variety of techniques for beginners Please see an example below. If press ups and burpees provide you with flashbacks of our schools gym sessions, don’t worry it is only a small investment of your time for long term benefits. Building muscles at any age can take time but please track your progress and set goals for one month, three months and 6 months. Setting goals such as “ I want a six pack before I go on holiday in 6 weeks is unrealistic”. A 1-month goal could be……
““I want to complete a 20-minute Joe Wicks work out twice a week for 4 weeks”.”
2. Incorporate stretching
This is a daily habit that we can incorporate into healthy goals, for example first thing in the morning we can perform a 5 minutes stretch routine. During lockdown I was experiencing lower back pain due to the fact I was sat at my desk for 8 to 10 hours a day. On reflection, I have realised that people expected you to be available for meetings and the boundary between work hours and home life became very blurred. One of my daily habits is to ensure that if I am working from home, I have a 60 minute block for lunch and maybe a dog walk and another break in my work calendar at the end of the day of maybe 20 to 30 minutes to mentally decompose the day and then be in the moment to share time with my family for dinner. This is really hard as we are more connected than anytime in the history of my career but I turn off all e-mail and social media notifications on my phone in the evening and invest my time and mind with the family. This is a really difficult habit to implement but practice and over time it will become a daily healthy mental habit. In that 20 minutes, I might listen to a music, listen to a meditation app, read a book, take the dog for a walk or prepare dinner.
My work colleague suggested yoga for my lower back pain and provided the below link to a video by Adriene. I know your reaction might be “ I am too embarrassed to try yoga”, remember the ethos of this project is to open our minds and try different things but also add humour. I borrowed my daughter’s yoga mat and the family found it hilarious as I tried to follow the instructions and my bones clicked with every movement and I struggled to get into the basic positions.
Adriene is a great teacher and remember she is a professional yoga teacher and we are middle aged men starting out so be careful on how far we stretch our muscles!. I followed the video below, just once or twice a week and also incorporate the exercises when I go the gym and I can honestly say that after 4 weeks all the back pain in my lower back was gone.
I am very fortunate to work with many colleagues in India and yoga is a natural practice for men and woman and I have been inspired to explore the practice more and give it a go. I will keep you updated with my progress but you can also incorporate some of the below stretches in the above video. If you would like some inspiration please read this article, how Sir Paul McCartney incorporates his yoga practice into his daily fitness regime. He also incorporates meditation into this daily healthy habit and we should be inspired by his quote below.
““ I think it’s always good to have a still moment in your day. Whenever I have a chance in a busy schedule, I’ll do it…..I always like to take a moment and meditate. It’s a good thing.” ”
3. Ensure we get a good night’s sleep.
As you start exercise and strength training you will naturally be energized but you also need to incorporate a good night’s sleep into your routine. Active adults should get at least 7 hours sleep as it gives your body and muscles time to recover and rebuild and you will have more energy for the next workout. I have a dedicated article on the importance of sleep as a daily habit.
Additionally, weight training can also improve sleep quality, which can be an important factor in managing stress. Research has found that people who engage in regular weight training are less likely to experience insomnia and other sleep-related issues.
4. Ensure you are using the correct technique to avoid injury
Every Gym will provide a free induction session (Don’t be shy, just ask for a full induction.) Complete your research and come to your induction with all the exercises that you would like to be shown. Another option, book some personal trainer sessions, if you book a block session for say 10 sessions you will get a discount. This could be a fantastic investment in your fitness goals as the personal trainer is qualified and they can provide a training plan that matches your goals more importantly show you the correct technique and posture. Once you have the confidence, then you can build your own routine but also avoid injury. In my gym, there is always trainers on duty and I am not shy in asking questions, or I will watch and observe other gym users. For example, I wanted to try and squat machine with a barbell and the trainer showed me the best technique to avoid injury to my knees or back.
5. Don’t be scared of the gym
As I have mentioned, going to the gym is not for everyone but I started going as a weekly habit to keep me motivated and inspired. I was making good progress from home workouts with Joe Wicks free youtube videos but to be honest I was starting to lose motivation as my home became my gym, my office and my family home. 3 days a week, I will travel to the gym for a strength and cardio session and it has become a part of my healthy routine and habit. It has also been brilliant for my mental health and wellbeing as the members are very friendly and I can stop and have a chat with the regulars. My wife does wonder if I talk more than I exercise but it is good to talk. I am always inspired when I see new members having a tour of the gym and completing their induction. Do not be shy, remember every person in the gym is undergoing their own health and fitness transformation journey. 99.9% of people in the gym are very friendly and supportive and the last .1% are what I can gym balloons.
Many years ago I lived in Edinburgh and I joined a gym with a work colleague but there was a dedicated gym with heavy weights and a number of members were competing for national and international body building championships. I have always had very skinny legs and especially my calf muscles and one day I was in the changing room and this massive body builder shouted over “ Hey mate, it is leg day today?”, and all his friends burst out laughing. It was slightly embarrassing but I use visualisation to make humour out of the situation. This guy’s arms and legs were massive, and I imagined his muscles were full of gallons of water, then one morning he was lying in bed, and they all exploded, and he bed, and room were covered in gush of water. Hence the phrase “ Gym balloons” and it always makes me smile when I see a body builder posing.
The morale of this story, is just focus on your own goals and don’t worry about the guy next to you lifting 120KG on the bench press, you are in the gym for your own health goals and healthy habits.
Focus on your own personal fitness goals and incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine and one takeaway from the book “Atomic habits” by James Clear is to set triggers for your daily habits. These triggers can make your habits automatic over time, for example the night before you are going to the gym, prepare your water bottles, prepare your gym clothes and put beside your bed. When your alarm roars into action at 6 am, you will see your gym clothes and over time this will be an automatic trigger to jump out of bed and go the gym. This sounds very simplistic but from my own experience it does really work over time as your mind links the “Trigger “ to the habit. There will obviously be days when you turn off the alarm and stay in bed but that will motivate you to try again the next day !
6. Great for stress management
I am currently working from home 2 days a week and I will set my alarm at 6.30am go to the gym to complete some cardio and strength training and to be honest the cold dark cold winter mornings really push my motivation. This has become my daily and weekly habit and it is my time to focus on my mental and physical wellbeing. It is also a great time to focus and mentally prepare for the day, do I have a presentation that day?, what our my goals for the day?, what problems do I need to resolve today?, what is my priority today and think of one personal goal that I would like to achieve ?. I am mentally setting daily goals while exercising and it has really helped with my stress management and focusing on me. Scientific research also provides evidence that exercise and strength training also improves cognitive function and mood. I also see the gym session as an opportunity of meditation and mindfulness, for example you could listen to your mediation app while walking/ running on the treadmill or while using the rowing machine. You can see the 60 minutes in the gym as your opportunity for you to invest in your mental and physical wellbeing. You can download the below free motivation poster here.
Weight training can be beneficial for managing stress. Regular exercise, in general, has been shown to reduce stress by releasing endorphins, also known as "feel-good" hormones, which can improve mood and promote a sense of well-being. Weight training specifically can also help to reduce stress by providing a sense of accomplishment and control, as well as a healthy outlet for pent-up emotions and tension.
7. Improves metabolism
If you goal is to lose weight, then strength training is a good option to increase your muscle mass and increase your natural metabolism and the ability to burn fat.
Strength training improves metabolism by increasing muscle mass. Muscles are more metabolically active than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest. This means that even when you're not working out, your body will be burning more calories than it would if you had less muscle. Additionally, strength training can also increase your resting metabolic rate (RMR) which means that your body burns more calories at rest. This can be especially beneficial for men over 50 who may have a natural decrease in muscle mass and metabolic rate as they age.
I personally, enjoy my early morning gym sessions and again I use visualization techniques to imagine my body burning fat throughout the day as I continue to work !
As I have mentioned previously, I am not a professional fitness coach or medical professional so please ensure you discuss with your doctor before you embark on any new fitness regime. In the United Kingdom, people over 40 years old are entitled to a free medical and health check and you can discuss your fitness goals with the professional. You might struggle to get an appointment as national health service is struggling with the post pandemic impact but please be patient and insist that you have a medical to review your bloods, blood pressure, weight and heart health.
Good luck
Larry