Keeping Fit: The Importance of Keeping Strong

 

Many of us think that getting exercise is about getting out for a run, a bike ride or a walk – that is we think about aerobic activity.  However, strength training is also really important according to an article in New Scientist in April 2020. 

Our muscle strength peaks in our 30s and from then on, it slowly declines – at about the rate of 5% per decade. That decline gets much faster around the age of 70.   For some, it declines so much that people struggle to get out of chairs or climb stairs as they age.  This doesn’t have to be and it turns out that strength training it important for all age groups. 

Having stronger muscles can protect you from diseases including type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.  It also looks like it can improve memory and prevent cognitive decline.  Strength training is also good for those who suffer from osteoarthritis.

Strength training doesn’t have to be done in a gym and it is not about bulking up and you don’t need a lot of time to benefit. One study of a large number of people indicted that lifting weights for around and hour a week, reduced the risk of heart attack and stroke by up to 70 percent.  Another study of 100,000 women found that those who did at least an hour of strength training per week significantly lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes and of osteoporosis. 

So, what does this mean for what you should do?  The guidelines say exercise all your muscle groups – legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms - until they are tired at least twice a week. You don’t need to exercise the whole lot at once, but it is ok if you do. Just make sure you don’t push yourself hard until you have got used to the exercise. 

Going to a class can be a good way to get help with what to do and how best to do it. 

Some of this might be something you can build into your day, so for some, walking to the supermarket and carrying shopping bags could be part of that.  Some jobs in the garden or cleaning the house might also provide an opportunity to work your muscles so you can feel them get tired.  Riding a bike in a way that makes your legs tired can also be a good option and will be good aerobic exercise too. 

 The Secret Life of Trees

Over the last few decades, scientists have learned that trees and plants in a forest and even plants growing near each other communicate, and often help each other out.  While competition does happen, it is very clear that collaboration also happens.

Different tree species will exchange water, food and other nutrients with the help of mycorrhizal fungi – fungi which penetrate the roots of many different plants and form a mutually beneficial partnership with those plants.  The fungi help the plants take up nutrients that they need, and the plants supply the fungi with sugars. It turns out that the fungi also help the plants to communicate by transporting excess food, nutrients and other chemicals between them. 

The direction of the exchange depends on the season and on the age of the trees and their place in the forest. 

It turns out that older trees send significant amounts to their children growing around them, and can pass on messages about how to survive drought or attack by insects or even unfriendly fungi.  It also seems that they can distinguish which plants the different messages go to. 

So next time you are in a forest, or even a group of trees think about the communications that will be going on under your feet. 

If you want to find out more, google wood wide web and find many talks, videos and articles about this online.  You could also get Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard out of the library.