“If there is one single thing you can do to improve your health, there is no doubt it is exercise,” says Robert Sallis, MD. He’s promoting the Exercise is Medicine initiative of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM.) This May marks the second annual Exercise is Medicine Month which was created to promote exercise and increase physical activity during the month of May.
Locally, Kara Nelson-Leone, is promoting fitness solutions for people to do just that: Get and stay active. She works out of her studio in West Olympia called Living Fit. Among several qualifications, she is certified by the International Sports Sciences Association as a Fitness Therapist. In a recent presentation, she points out that adults aged 30+ years begin to lose lean muscle mass at an average rate of 1/2 pound per year, no matter what their activity levels. (Ladies and Gentlemen! Your lean muscle mass is leaving the building!!) Gaining lean muscle through strength training, she continues, can help restore health and quality of life by reversing some of the problems associated with this loss. (ie. Loss of strength, increased bloodpressure, and decreased bone density, among others.)
I had the opportunity to experience some of her training sessions and found them very challenging and to the point. She incorporates high intensity/slow movement training, so most of my sessions were less than 30 minutes. I found my training with her very useful for my cycling since she was using exercises for my upper and lower body and core. I’ve definately never viewed strength training the same way since those workouts!
Check it out… Build some muscle. May is slipping away.
