One Exercise Technique Is Especially Good For Building Muscle, Experts Say

MANDY HAGSTROM & ANURAG PANDIT wrote . . . . . . . . .

So you’ve got yourself a gym membership or bought a set of home weights. Now what? With the sheer amount of confusing exercise advice out there, it can be hard to decide what to include in a weights routine.

It can help to know there are broadly two types of movements in resistance training (lifting weights): compound exercises and isolation exercises.

So what’s the difference? And what’s all this got to do with strength, speed and healthy ageing?

What’s the difference?

Compound exercises involve multiple joints and muscle groups working together.

In a push up, for example, your shoulder and elbow joints are moving together. This targets the muscles in the chest, shoulder and triceps.

When you do a squat, you’re using your thigh and butt muscles, your back, and even the muscles in your core.

It can help to think about compound movements by grouping them by primary movement patterns.

For example, some lower body compound exercises follow a “squat pattern”. Examples include bodyweight squats, weighted squats, lunges and split squats.

We also have “hinge patterns”, where you hinge from a point on your body (such as the hips). Examples include deadlifts, hip thrusts and kettle bell swings.

Upper body compounded exercises can be grouped into “push patterns” (such as vertical barbell lifts) or “pull patterns” (such as weighted rows, chin ups or lat pull downs, which is where you use a pulley system machine to lift weights by pulling a bar downwards).

In contrast, isolation exercises are movements that occur at a single joint.

For instance, bicep curls only require movement at the elbow joint and work your bicep muscles. Tricep extensions and lateral raises are other examples of isolation exercises.

Compound exercises can make daily life easier

Many compound exercises mimic movements we do every day.

Hinge patterns mimic picking something off the floor. A vertical press mimics putting a heavy box on a high shelf. A squat mimics standing up from the couch or getting on and off the toilet.

That might sound ridiculous to a young, fit person (“why would I need to practise getting on and off a toilet?”).

Unfortunately, we lose strength and muscle mass as we age. Men lose about 5% of their muscle mass per decade, while for women the figure is about 4% per decade.

When this decline begins can vary widely. However, approximately 30% of an adult’s peak muscle mass is lost by the time they are 80.

The good news is resistance training can counteract these age-related changes in muscle size and strength.

So building strength through compound exercise movements may help make daily life feel a bit easier. In fact, our ability to perform compound movements are a good indicator how well we can function as we age.

What about strength and athletic ability?

Compound exercises use multiple joints, so you can generally lift heavier weights than you could with isolation exercises. Lifting a heavier weight means you can build muscle strength more efficiently.

One study divided a group of 36 people into two. Three times a week, one group performed isolation exercises, while the other group did compound exercises.

After eight weeks, both groups had lost fat. But the compound exercises group saw much better results on measures of cardiovascular fitness, bench press strength, knee extension strength, and squat strength.

If you play a sport, compound movements can also help boost athletic ability.

Squat patterns require your hip, knee, and ankle to extend at the same time (also known as triple extension).

Our bodies use this triple extension trick when we run, sprint, jump or change direction quickly. In fact, research has found squat strength is strongly linked to being able to sprint faster and jump higher.

Isolation exercises are still good

What if you’re unable to do compound movements, or you just don’t want to?

Don’t worry, you’ll still build strength and muscle with isolation exercises.

Isolation exercises are also typically easier to learn as there is no skill required. They are an easy and low risk way to add extra exercise at the end of the workout, where you might otherwise be too tired to do more compound exercises safely and with correct form.

In fact, both isolation and compound exercises seem to be equally effective in helping us lose body fat and increase fat-free muscle mass when total intensity and volume of exercises are otherwise equal.

Some people also do isolation exercises when they want to build up a particular muscle group for a certain sport or for a bodybuilding competition, for example.

I just want a time efficient workout

Considering the above factors, you could consider prioritising compound exercises if you’re:

• time poor
• keen to lift heavier weights
• looking for an efficient way to train many muscles in the one workout
• interested in healthy ageing.

That said, most well designed workout programs will include both compound and isolation movements.

Source: Science Alert

 

 

 

 

Kidney Trouble Could Mean Tooth Loss for Older Women

Dennis Thompson wrote . . . . . . . . .

Older women with chronic kidney disease might wind up losing so many teeth they aren’t able to chew and talk effectively, a new study warns.

Postmenopausal women with kidney disease are about 40% more likely to have fewer than 20 teeth, the minimum number needed to adequately chew and speak, researchers reported June 12 in the journal Menopause.

This sort of tooth loss is also associated with an increased risk of stroke and other systemic illnesses like diabetes, thyroid disease and osteoporosis, researchers noted.

“Our findings suggest that preventing and managing mineral and bone metabolism disorders in postmenopausal women with chronic kidney disease are crucial to prevent tooth loss,” concluded the research team led by Dr. Ki-Ho Chung, an associate professor with Chonnam National University School of Dentistry in South Korea.

The kidneys play a critical role in health by filtering waste products and toxins from the blood, researchers explained in background notes.

Kidney function tends to decrease after menopause, and is associated with declining levels of female hormones in women who’ve gone through menopause.

For this study, researchers analyzed health records for nearly 65,000 South Korean women ages 40 to 79.

They found that the ability of the kidneys to effectively filter blood is associated with the number of teeth a woman has in her mouth.

Adults have 32 permanent teeth, but women with poorly functioning kidneys were at increased risk of having fewer than 20, results show. This was particularly true in women ages 66 to 79.

Researchers noted that chronic kidney disease can significantly affect bone health and mineral metabolism, both of which can contribute to tooth loss.

Inflammation and decreased salivation caused by kidney disease also could promote tooth loss, they added. Salivation is important to dental health, while inflammation plays a role in gum disease and bone health.

“This study highlights the known link between chronic kidney disease and bone metabolism,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.

“Increased attention to oral and bone health is warranted in postmenopausal women with chronic kidney disease, in addition to meticulous efforts aimed at preserving kidney function. Conversely, oral health is a window to overall health, and good oral hygiene is important for women of all ages,” Faubion added in a society news release.

Source: HealthDay

 

 

 

 

Roasted Halibut with Minted Pea Coulis

Ingredients

2 large shallots or 1/2 small onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups frozen peas
2 to 4 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 halibut each about 6 oz
1 tsp salt
pinches of ground black pepper
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 lime, cut in half
1/4 cup frozen peas (optional)

Method

1. Finely chop shallots. Place in a small saucepan. Sprinkle with salt and add wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, until shallots are soft, 5 minutes.
2. Add 2 cups peas, 2 tablespoons mint and cream. Cook until peas are soft, 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Purée mixture in a food processor, scraping down sides as necessary. Taste and add remaining mint, if needed, then purée. Press mixture through a sieve into a clean saucepan or small bowl. Mash as much pea pulp as possible through sieve using bottom of a soup ladle in a circular motion. Discard any pulp that doesn’t pass through. If not serving right away, refrigerate, uncovered, until cool. This will help keep colour vibrant up to 4 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with foil. Don’t oil.
5. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper.
6. Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan set over medium-high heat. Add 3 fillets, skin-side up. Cook until golden-tinged, 3 minutes. Place skin- side down on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining fish. Add more butter and oil, if needed. Roast in centre of 400°F (200°C) oven until a knife tip inserted in centre of fish feels warm, 5 to 7 minutes.
7. To serve, reheat pea coulis. Spoon a little in centre of each plate. Place fish on top, leaving skin on pan. Squeeze a little lime juice overtop. Garnish with 1/4 cup peas and roasted tomato wedges, if using.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: Chatelaine magazine

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