Australian Men’s Fitness – September 2019

Training
Breakthroughs

Allinthetiming

Slowwalkersare

notjustthebane

ofpedestrians

everywhere

• they’realso
  doingthemselves
  a disservice.
  Researchersat
  theUniversity
  ofLeicesterand
  Loughborough
  Universityin theUK
  havediscovereda
  correlationbetween
  walkingfasterand
  livinglonger.They
  revieweddataof
  morethan500,
  peopleacrosstheUK
  andfoundthatmen
  whowalkedbriskly
  hada lifeexpectancy
  of85.2to86.8years,
  whileslowerwalkers
  hada lifeexpectancy
  ofjust64.8.

Morepowertoyou

Let’sfaceit, no-oneloves

thewarm-uppartofa

workout.Butif youadd

a plyometricelementtothestart

ofyoursession,you’llmakeit

morefunand– accordingtoa

studyin theJournalofStrength

andConditioningResearch–

you’llgetmoreoutoftherestof

yoursession,too.Whensubjects

dida warm-upthatincorporated

jumps,theyexperienceda

39%increasein rateofforce

developmentoverthosewho

dida steady-statewarm-up.

Fireupyour

warm-up

When you’re

doing plyo

exercises such

as jumps and

throws as part

of a warm-up,

make sure you

do low reps,

rest for at least

60 seconds

between sets,

and focus

on quality of

execution

rather than

going all-out.

You’re aiming

to increase

performance

of muscles, not

fatigue them.

■ Researchers in

Denmark have

discovered that the

effect of exercise may

differ depending on

the time of day it’s

done. They found that

exercise in the morning

results in an increased

metabolic response in

muscle, while exercise

later in the day upped

energy expenditure.

“There appear to be

rather significant

differences between

the effect of exercise

done in the morning

and evening, and

these differences are

probably controlled

by the body’s circadian

clock,” says study

researcher Jonas Thue

Treebak. “Morning

exercise initiates

gene programs in the

muscle cells, making

them more effective

and better capable of

metabolising sugar

and fat. Evening

exercise, on the other

hand, increases

whole body energy

expenditure for

an extended period

of time.”

Araúj. “For strength

training at the gym,

most people just think

about the amount of

weight being lifted

and the number of

reps without paying

attention to the speed

of execution. But

for optimal power

training results, you

should go beyond

typical strength

training and add

speed to your

weight lifts.”

■ Prolong your life

by increasing your

muscle power. That’s

the message of a new

study from Brazil.

“Rising from a chair

in old age and kicking

a ball depend more

on muscle power

than strength, yet

most weight-bearing

exercise focuses on

the latter,” says study

author Claudio Gil

Araújo. “Our study

shows for the first

time that people

with more muscle

power tend to live

longer.” Power

depends on the

ability to generate

force and velocity

and to coordinate

movement. “Power

training is carried out

by finding the best

combination of speed

and weight being

lifted or moved,” says

18 MEN’S FITNESS SEPTEMBER 2019

STEP IT UP