Strength Training Is The King Of Medicine!
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture delivered by Jonathan Sullivan, MD. Dr. Sullivan spent about 25 years working as an emergency room physician, but decided that he wanted to shift his focus from trying to put broken people back together and spend more time building people up! So what did he do? He opened Greysteel Strength and Conditioning in Detroit! Dr. Sullivan now spends his time teaching and coaching people (which he refers to as athletes) over the age of 40 to pick heavy stuff up! According to him, "this is the only medicine that is effective 100% of the time." He feels so strongly about the impact of what he is doing that he even wrote a book, The Barbell Prescription, focused on the importance of strength training on overall wellness. In his opinion, strength training is the most valuable medicine to treat what he calls the Sick Aging Phenotype, which he defines as a combination of sarcopenia (muscle loss), osteopenia (bone loss), frailty, metabolic syndrome (Obesity, Insulin Resistance, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia/high cholesterol), Polypharmacy (too many meds), and medical dependance. The explanation of the impact that strength training can have on each of these issues, was compelling and evidence based. So I guess to say that I agree with Dr. Sullivan would be an understatement. But we did disagree on one thing... He trains his athletes with barbells and I love my kettlebells!
So if you know anyone who can identify with the Sick Aging Phenotype, they will benefit from beginning a basic strength training program. We would love to help them get that ball rolling!
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