OnFitness Magazine - May/June 2016 - 53

Live with cardio
Your heart needs this. Who wants to be the best-built
person in the cemetery? Cardio conditioning is also crucial
to weight control and performance in the weight room.
It's a marathon, not a sprint
You are in the game for the long run - one that, with
luck and care, can be multiple decades long. Quality
muscle takes time to build; make sure you pace yourself
accordingly.
While you may never be able to knock out Father
Time, you can go the distance with him and look good
doing it. And that is always one for you in the win
column. Z

Master
Lee's
lifting
__________

Age-related
muscle loss
SARCOPENIA, otherwise known as the 600-pound

Pyramid sets
for growth
LOOKING for a different type of training? Pyramid sets
are an example ripped out of the training manual used
by the top powerlifting gym in the world.
Using a simple bench press, start with the bar and
only a 5- or 10-pound plate on each side. Perform 3
reps. Replace the bar and have two friends add one
more plate on each side. Perform 3 more reps and keep
adding weights.
This process should continue until the lifts are
impossible to continue due to fatigue. The process is
then reversed and the weights are removed one at a
time. Don't rest in between sets, and don't allow the
lifter to remove their hands from the bar.
This process can be used for a variety of other
exercises. If used on the squats or deadlifts, heavier
plates may need to be used. Z

gorilla in the locker room. Defined as age-related muscle
loss, sarcopenia is a biological condition that has been
studied for decades, with its implications for men and
women today often cited as psychological.
While we'll address that psychology later, let's first
discuss the three contributing factors to sarcopenia.
Diet: as people age, their dietary habits frequently
change, often failing to supply proper levels of protein.
Without proper attention to protein intake, muscles are
unable to retain size and strength.
Neuromuscular rewiring: this is a fancy way to say,
"Use it or lose it." Couch potatoes, beware: your body
will actually rewire its connections away from unused
muscles to save energy.
Hormones: while we can't halt this normal biological
course of life, we are not completely at its mercy, as we
can positively affect hormone levels with proper diet
and exercise.
Here is where the psychological implications come
into play. Most of us have heard one statistic or another
stating ambiguous facts such as "studies have shown an
8% loss of muscle mass per year past the age of 35."
These types of findings have led many to believe that
such loss is inevitable and that exercise is futile ... so
why bother? Nothing could be further from the truth.
Proper exercise and diet can help us keep what muscle
we have and even gain muscle at any age (medical
studies have shown that 90-year-olds can gain muscular
strength and size).
Don't be intimidated by sarcopenia. As a trainer,
many of us have witnessed men and women achieve
better results in their 40s, 50s and 60s than they ever
achieved earlier in life. I personally added over 10
pounds of lean muscle while in my 60s.
Pursue fitness with passion, intelligence and
commitment and you will be rewarded at any age.
- Tony Decosta

Bruce Lee became
an icon in the
martial arts world,
the best-known and
most respected
martial artist of all
time. In addition to
his many martial
arts exercises, Lee
also lifted weights.
His weight workout
provides a great
template for anyone
who wants to use
weights as a
supplement to
other forms of
training or sports.
Bruce would
perform a couple of
sets of compound
movements for a
moderately high
repetition range
(10-15) a few times
a week. Some of
the exercises he
used included the
clean and press,
squat, bench press
and curl.

5 3 W W W. O N F I T N E S S M A G . C O M | V O L 1 6 N O 6 | 2 0 1 6

and turmeric can add years to a joint's "expiration date."
Do your research.
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OnFitness Magazine - May/June 2016

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