Do things feel easier for you now in your life? That’s progress. That’s a win. Are you experiencing less pains and aches?

That’s a win.

The key thing really to think about is, are we doing the right things from a lifestyle point of view? Are we controlling the controllables?

Welcome to the Strength Changes Everything podcast, where we introduce you to the information, latest research, and tools that will enable you to live a strong, healthy life. On this podcast, we will also answer your questions about strength, health, and well -being. I’m Amy Hudson. I own and operate three exercise coach studios. My co -hosts are Brian Sagan, co -founder and CEO of The Exercise Coach, and Dr. James Fisher, leading researcher in evidence -based strength training. And now for today’s episode.

Welcome back to the Strength Changes Everything podcast, everybody. Today is a Q &A episode. So this episode, we will be answering your questions. As a reminder, you can always visit the show at strengthchangeseverything . com. At the top of the page, there is a little orange button where you can submit a question for the show.

If you have questions about health, about strength training, anything at all that pops into your mind that you would like an expert answer on, please go to strengthchangeseverything . com and submit that question for us. Today we’re working through some of the questions that have been submitted from our webpage and we’re going to get to four different topics today. They’ll be pretty interesting ones and so I’m going to just throw these questions at Dr. Fisher one at a time and see what he has to say about these. All right. So we’re just going to dive in.

So the first question has to do with body weight and BMI as a metric for success. This client, you know, has the mindset, they write it and say, if I can’t lose weight, I might, I might just not bother. strength training. So I guess our question really is, what are the metrics we should be looking at for success?

How much emphasis should we place on body weight or our BMI results or outcomes as a measure of our success for strength training? Well, that’s a great question. And I think we’ve covered this to some extent in previous episodes, but it’s nice to have such a succinct and clear question to get to this point. So first of all, body mass index is a calculation of height and body mass, and that’s it. And it’s really simple for GPs or physicians to use as a kind of a broad metric across the whole population with these parameters of being underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. The problem is, If you were to take most, probably most Olympic athletes or pro bodybuilders, certainly they are way, way heavier than they should be for their height.

And therefore they would almost all crop up as being overweight or obese. And therein lies the key problem that because it’s a metric of weight, it’s not a metric of body composition. So it doesn’t consider just how much muscle mass a person has. So. One of the key things to remember if we look at some of the research is people that are carrying more adipose tissue and have a higher body mass index typically also have a higher muscle mass index. So they have a higher proportion of or they have a higher volume of muscle as well as a higher volume of fat.

So actually it’s always worrying for me when somebody says just with a blanket statement of your body mass index is too high you should lose weight and they go and lose weight. Because the concern is that some of the weight that they might lose is actually muscle, not body fat. You know, you asked the question, what, what metrics should we use? Well, it’s not bad to use a metric. If we step on the scales and we want to see our weight decrease, that’s fine. But if we’re engaging in strength training, we’re engaging in physical activity, and we’re maybe reducing our calories, but retaining an appropriate amount of protein, and we’ve talked about protein on the show previously, then actually we shouldn’t be worried if the weight doesn’t move.

we can still see changes and we might see those changes just in the way that our clothes fit. So for example, I have a couple pairs of jeans that in the summer, they fit me really well, but in the winter, they’re just that bit too tight. And I know that it’s partly because in the summer I do that bit more exercise, outdoors, cycling, running, things like that. And through the winter, I become a bit more of a homebody. So I just carried that a bit more out of post -tissue. So, and the scales might not even really reflect that change, but my clothes do.

So. The key thing really to think about is, are we doing the right things from a lifestyle point of view? Are we controlling the controllables? And then kind of let the weight be what it is. We can, we can get it to come down a little bit, but we shouldn’t be overly concerned about it.

If we’re doing the right things like strength training and eating whole foods and, and getting our steps in and things like that. Great. Yeah. I, I’m also reminded too.

I mean, if, if somebody’s main focus is body weight. That’s very, very tempting for them to just do whatever it takes to cut that number down, including losing muscle mass or going on a calorie restrictive diet where they’re, unfortunately, as a byproduct of that, going to lose muscle mass. Does that make us healthier in the end? Yeah. So that’s the big concern. And there is so much data that says, that tracks people over the long term.

So it might track people over a six month period and say, okay, they’ve gone through a calorie restriction. How much weight have they lost? and the worry is that in some cases, 50 % of the weight lost is muscle mass. But then they review that person two years later, and that person has put on all the weight that they lost. So they now weigh the same again.

They’ve gone back to their old habits with nutrition and exercise, but they’ve not been able to return the amount of muscle mass or to regain the amount of muscle mass that they lost.

So they lose weight and lose muscle, but then they put the same amount of weight back on as purely fat.

And if you can imagine somebody does that four or five times a decade, well, they can lose a lot of muscle mass and add a lot of fat.

And that’s obviously a big issue. Yes, I remember when you were describing that in a previous episode, you said they’re effectively aging themselves by doing that.

A hundred percent.

A hundred percent.

So you mentioned then, you know, what should we be looking at as a measure of success if it isn’t body weight or straight BMI? You mentioned our body composition being one of those things we should look at for success. Can you flesh that out and then mention any other areas that, you know, you would recommend a client look at as a measure of their success? Yeah, okay. So a lot of people can get these on like Amazon and other places like that now where you can buy some form of body composition measurement. And it normally uses what’s called bioelectrical impedance analysis.

It sends a small electric current through the body and it measures or it gives an estimate of fat mass and fat free mass. So for example, I have one of her, but if I step on the scales, then it might say, uh, you know, I’m 12 % body fat, or it’s going to estimate me at 12 % body fat. So we can get some tools like that and they’re relatively inexpensive. And I would say that a tool like that is probably always better than just scales because scales are only going to give us one variable. It’s only going to give us weight.

So if we’re truly interested in chasing these numbers, that’s the direction to go. Now, they’re far from perfect. How accurate they are is questionable and probably depends to some extent upon the price. Um, but they tend to be relatively reliable in that if you’re using the same device and you’re measuring at the same time of day. So if you kind of get up in the morning and use the bathroom and then take a measurement, then if you track it over time, sort of once a week, you’ll probably get relatively accurate measurements as far as a reliability point of view. Um, if it says you’re.

18 % body fat, you might be as low as 16 or as high as 20 or 22.

So how accurate it is, I don’t know.

But the reliability from day to day is generally pretty good. So people can start to use those devices and they’re becoming much more accessible. Again, going back to what I said previously, I also like the idea of people just knowing their own body and when they, when they dress, uh, you know, the clothes that they wear, gauging how they feel, if they fit tighter in the arms and fit loose around the waist or, you know, whatever it might be, then that’s a, that’s a pretty good gauge of how we feel. Absolutely. A couple other things that come to mind that I’ve used to encourage myself and other clients in the past is do things feel easier for you now in your life? You know, that’s progress.

That’s a win. Are you experiencing less pains and aches? That’s a win. Are you sleeping better? That’s a win. Are you craving healthier foods because you have engaged in a healthier lifestyle?

That’s a win. Let’s focus on those things.

Right.

Because those those habits continued over time will compound upon themselves. That’s a really, really helpful thing to break down, and I really appreciate the perspective on that. All right, you ready for our next segment? Yeah, let’s do it.

Okay, so this question comes in from a client who is concerned that they really have to limit their protein intake because of a kidney transplant. that this client can only consume 65 to 70 grams of protein per day because of this kidney transplant. And they’ve heard recommendations for consuming higher amounts of protein. So what would you say in that situation? Yeah, I think this is a really great question. And it’s something we probably should have covered in the episode where we talked about protein.

So when protein is broken down, the waste products have to be filtered by the kidneys. So that’s why people often talk about, well, if my protein is too high, doesn’t that put excess stress on my kidneys? Or if somebody has kidney issues or is on dialysis or awaiting kidney transplant, then they’re often advised to limit their protein intake. Now, the evidence suggests that there is no kind of upper range for protein. You know, a lot of people historically have talked about, well, bodybuilders have way too much protein and their kidneys are really struggling. There’s really no research to support that at all.

It’s great in theory, but there’s just no data that supports it. So the protein recommendations that we’ve given on the show previously are relatively high as far as the amount of protein to consume, 1 .6 to 2 grams per kilogram of body mass or a gram per pound of body mass. Now, obviously, if somebody is restricted in the amount of protein that they can take in, they should absolutely adhere to those guidelines. It’s medical professionals that are providing those guidelines, and they’re provided for a reason. The key thing is to engage in strength training. I hope we clarified in that show.

that the main way to tip the scale in increasing muscle strength and function and muscle mass is by engaging in strength training. If we don’t engage in strength training, but we boost our protein intake, we’re not going to build muscle in the way that we would do if we engage in strength training without changing our protein intake. So ultimately, The answer is, if we’re limited in protein intake, that’s fine. Just carry on doing what you’re doing with strength training and with exercise, and make sure the protein is from good sources, it’s whole proteins containing essential amino acids, and you’re doing everything that you can, certainly from a medical perspective, to build and maintain the muscle mass that you’ve got.

That’s encouraging. Great, thank you for that one. All right, so this next question has to do with osteoporosis and osteopenia. So the question really is, you know, is the exercise coach workout safe if I have osteopenia or osteoporosis and will it help strengthen my bones? Yeah, that’s a great question. Again, we have talked about bone density and decreasing bone mineral density for osteopenia and osteoporosis in the show.

We’ve gone into some detail. So there are previous podcasts to maybe go back and have a listen to. But I could understand why somebody walking the exercise coach might ask that question, especially because of the use of isokinetic devices, you know, motor driven, you know, technologically enabled devices rather than just free weights. So the best way to think about this is the body doesn’t recognize what’s loading it. If I pick up a free weight, if I pick up a bag of sugar, if I pick up a bag of dog food or a dog, my muscles don’t identify with what I’m actually lifting. They simply identify that they’re contracting.

And it’s that contraction that pulls against the bone that’s providing the strain in the what’s called the minimal essential strain to increase bone mineral density. So we have to have a certain amount of resistance in the musculoskeletal system to increase bone mineral density. And fundamentally, it doesn’t matter where that comes from. Now, there are huge benefits to the exobotics devices compared to other pieces of equipment that might be commercially available. Um, but they primarily are beneficial from an, from an eccentric perspective in the way that they load the muscle, uh, or they overload the muscle in an eccentric way, which we’ve talked about previously.

We’ll get into in another podcast. Um, but fundamentally they are 100 % safe for somebody with osteopenia and osteoporosis. And that even goes so far as to say that they’re recommended strength training is absolutely recommended for anybody with any concern over their bone mineral density. Now, it’s also worth clarifying that bone density is not something that improves in a handful of weeks. It typically takes a degree of regularity over a duration of time, and that’s normally 6 to 12 months.

Most of the studies are 6 to 12 months to see statistically significant increases in bone mineral density.

Now, that’s not to say that you won’t see them before then. But the key is really that you’re in it for the long haul to increase or maintain bone density rather than just a short kind of weight loss program over 10 weeks or strength program over 10 or 12 weeks. That’s the difference when we start to talk about bone mineral density. Right. And would you agree too that what makes the exercise coach workout safe in general is the same thing that makes it safe for somebody with osteoporosis or osteopenia? You know, yeah, well, the exercise coach workouts based on the exit bar.

falling, and there’s just no risk of that with the exobotics devices.

They also control the range of motion, so it’s never going to move into an extreme range of motion that places your joints and the connective tissues in any undue stress. Again, we’ve talked previously, it’s what’s called a safe range of motion. It’s not limited, but it’s a safe range of motion for everybody. And of course, all the workouts are supervised.

So when you add up these different characteristics of the exercise coach workout, you really create the safest environment to improve your strength, your muscle mass, your bone density, and your overall well -being. Absolutely. Well, I hope that the listener who asked that question is encouraged on that one. All right, the final question we’re going to cover today has to do with speed of movement. We’re talking about, you know, if you have exercised at an exercise coach studio, you’re familiar with the slow motion movement that we move through with our reps. on weight stack machines and also exerbotics, it’s slow. The person wants to know, is there any science regarding changes that occur specifically with slow motion training and slow motion movement?

Yeah, that’s a good question. So it’s perhaps worth clarifying for some of the listeners who might not be familiar that the exerbotics devices being isokinetic, they’re computer controlled, So a repetition is a given time for both the concentric and the eccentric phase. That might be four seconds concentric. So the computer and the motor will only allow the movement arm to move at a pace of four seconds for that range of motion for the concentric. It really of how hard that you push.

And the same in the eccentric, again, regardless of how hard you push. So it’s truly controlling that velocity of movement or that repetition duration. So within the exercise coach, that controlled range of motion is known to be very safe. It doesn’t put excess stress on joints or connective tissues, as we mentioned previously with the osteopenia question. And so we use the same principle with any other devices. So hip abduction and adduction and with the dual action cable pulleys and so forth.

So the reason that that range, that speed of movement or that repetition duration is used is because, first of all, it’s controlled. So when you’re controlling the weight, the weight is not controlling you. So you’re never at risk the weight is suddenly going to drop and it’s going to pull your limb or your joint into an unsafe position that might cause stress or injury. But second of all, it means that your muscle is under tension for the entire time. So one of the most common things that we see in strength training is somebody moves relatively explosively or what’s called ballistically. They begin an exercise, but they produce so much force in the outset of the repetition that the weight effectively moves itself under momentum.

And then somebody catches the weight at the top of the movement. Um, so what that does, I mean, they’re producing a high amount of force in the initial phase of the movement. So that’s great, but they’re unloading the muscle through a big part of the movement after that. And then they’ve got to catch that weight at the top of the movement. So again, very high forces. So if you were to look on a force graph.

then what you would see with a slow range of movement is that the force is effectively level all the way across even though you’re moving through a range of motion. So if I do a bicep curl, if I’m doing this movement, then the force is the same all the way through. Whereas if I do it very fast, it’s high at the bottom, then it’s unloaded, and then it’s high again at the top and I have to catch that weight. And it’s those high forces that place joints and connective tissues in that stress position, but also we unload the muscle.

Well, if the muscle’s not being loaded, it can’t adapt.

So we’re effectively only loading the muscle at the start and at the end of the exercise. So that’s not what we’re looking to do.

We’re looking to keep the muscle in the tension, ensure the stimulus is consistent throughout the range of motion. So we’re recruiting those muscle fibers to produce that movement, not relying on momentum. Perfect. I loved all that description.

So basically the answer to this is that the slow motion achieves a safer and more effective exercise session.

Yeah, absolutely. And there is a lot of research that’s looked at different repetition durations, you know, 2 -second concentric, 4 -second concentric, 10 -second concentric, and so forth. And in general, the research doesn’t really show any difference whether we’re moving moderately slow, either two to three seconds per concentric, down to sort of 60 seconds, or up to 60 seconds concentric or eccentric. The main thing is that the muscle is doing the work rather than momentum playing a part to move the load. Absolutely. Okay, great.

Well, that is all that we have for today. So if you thought of a question as you were listening to these answers, please go visit us at strengthchangeseverything . com and click that orange button to submit your question.

Dr. Fisher, thank you so much for answering these questions.

Do you have any closing thoughts today to leave us with? No, these are great questions and I love it. when the listeners kind of comment in. So please, if you’ve got any comments on anything we’ve done previously, want any more detail, or have any questions, whether it’s simple questions like this or far more complex questions, please feel free to drop us a line and we’ll get to them. Absolutely. We will see you next time on the show.

We hope you remember, strength changes everything. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with a friend. You can submit a question or connect with the show at strengthchangeseverything . com. Join us next week for another episode and be sure to follow the show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts so that you never miss another episode.

Here’s to you and your best health.