Strength & Stability

While we often focus on cardio, other fitness elements such as strength and stability are just as important to promoting metabolic health and extending your health-span.
Having high-level strength is associated with better metabolic function, decreased risk of injury, and a longer, healthier lifespan.
While strength is the ability to exert force, stability is also necessary. It’s the ability to resist force.
For example, to perform a squat, your large glute and quadricep muscles do the heavy lifting, but those small muscles in your core must also engage so your trunk supports the load and you don’t fall over. Similarly, when doing a pushup, the larger muscles in the chest and triceps do the pushing, but those smaller muscles in the back (rhomboids and erector spinae) and in the core (obliques and rectus abdominus) stabilise the trunk so you can most efficiently transfer force to push your body up. Weakness, pain, and other movement-related issues are often related to stability.
A lack of strength and stability is generally caused by a sedentary lifestyle, but it may also be a result of injury or a natural result of the ageing process. The good news is it’s never too late to improve the size, strength, and function of those movement and stabilising muscles. Improving strength and stability requires weight-bearing activity— anything where your bones are supporting weight. While conventional weightlifting is the most common way to improve strength and stability, it isn’t the only way. Bodyweight exercises also work well.
Let’s keep a few principles in mind. To continually get stronger, you must progressively increase the load. For example, if last week you could only do 10 repetitions at a specific weight but today you can do 12 repetitions at that same weight, you’re getting stronger. That’s great! That also means it’s time to increase the weight so performing 10 repetitions is once again difficult.
Also, it’s better to use a lighter load and do a movement correctly than use a load that makes it difficult to maintain form. Proper form forces you to use and develop those stabilising muscles and reduces your injury risk.
Your muscles grow bigger, stronger, and more resilient when they’re recovering from activity, not while doing it.
It’s impossible to improve strength and stability if you don’t adequately recover. Rest if you’re hurt or sore—don’t push it.
It keeps coming up, but eating a nutritious, whole-food diet is important to all aspects of health, including improving strength and stability. Be sure to eat adequate amounts
of protein and enough whole carbohydrates to fuel your exercise and recovery.
Improving your strength and stability will improve your metabolic health (as muscle is “metabolically active” tissue), make you more resilient and capable of handling everyday tasks, reduce injury risk, and help you maintain function throughout your entire lifespan. An optimal exercise program combines both zone two training and some strengthening activities.