GUEST SERIES | Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Assess & Improve All Aspects of Your Fitness | Episode 108
Main Takeaways
People generally have two major goals in mind: aesthetics and functionality.
The most important questions for assessing fitness goals are which area to focus on the most, why goals are not being achieved, and how to get there more effectively.
Exercise can create physiological adaptations that can be bucketed into nine areas: skill/technique, speed, power, force/strength, muscle hypertrophy, muscular endurance, anaerobic capacity, maximal aerobic capacity, and long-duration training.
Health-based protocols are based on the current status or limitations in physical fitness among these nine areas.
Fat loss and general health benefits are byproducts of these nine protocols and not specific training styles.
To maximize health and overall functionality throughout time, it needs to be a combination of strength and endurance.
The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, did a study with competitive skiers in the 1940s and 1950s and found that lifelong endurance exercisers are markedly healthier than people who don’t exercise.
Endurance exercises are very important for chronic disease management but are not sufficient for overall global health.
Monozygotic twins were used in an experiment to determine the effects of endurance exercises on identical twins. The findings showed that focusing solely on endurance exercises (cycling, running, etc.) is not enough to progress and move for high functionality.
Aging causes a selective reduction in fast-twitch fibers, which is a hallmark of aging. Slow-twitch fibers stay around because they are activated by almost any activity.
