Common Misconceptions

Isn't aerobic exercise the most important form of exercise?  I thought 150 minutes per week of speed walking is all I need to do.

For ideal muscle health, we should multiple forms of exercise.  But most commonly neglected is strength training.  Many people run or walk and seldom engage in resistance training.  Since muscle mass is a new vital sign (the more muscle the healthier you are), and since we naturally lose a lot of muscle mass with age, it is especially important to develop a simple routine to get your muscles stronger.

To get more fit, I need to break a serious sweat, right?

Yes and no.  Many workout routines fall short because they are too light, and only work select muscles.  Yard work for example is wonderful and works many muscles.  But it can be light and fail to challenge our muscles.  To get stronger, you need to stress your muscles with a challenge they have not yet met.  At the same time, we can often get more bang for our exercise buck by doing eccentric strengthening.  This is the kind of exercise you are doing when you walk downhill/downstairs, or lower the pushup bar or bicep curl.  This kind of exercise also requires less exertion than the lifting phase of your workout.  With shorter exercise routines, like Mindful Strength Training to Failure (MSTF), when we emphasize the eccentric phase of the workouts, we can get considerable benefits with less exertion and less time.

The ideal workout is 3 sets of 8 reps, 3 times per week

The ideal for you is whatever you are willing and able to do.  But if you are doing strength training, high intensity strength training to muscle failure, for example MSTF, can deliver more strength gains in much less time.  After an intense workout (such as 3 sets of 8 reps of any exercise) will often require more than 5 days rest.  So 3 times per week is often too frequent!

Workout Smarter, Not Harder!