Arthur Jones used a compelling analogy to emphasize the importance of exercise.
He said, “If you were to choke someone, it would take seconds for them to realize the importance of oxygen. If I were to lock them in a room and deprive them of water, it would take hours to realize the importance of hydration. If you deprived them of food, it would take days to see the need for sustenance. If you don’t exercise, it takes years to realize the amount of damage you are doing to your body. The amount of time for the cause and effect to take place is so far apart that people do not realize the damage they cause by being without.”
Arthur Jones was known as the “godfather” of strength and conditioning in the 1970s, and many of his training principles and ideas are still used today.
Osteoporosis (the demineralization of bones) is something you may have heard your doctor mention if you are a woman around the age of 50 or postmenopausal. Although men can also get osteoporosis, women tend to be more susceptible to it. It illustrates a broader trend among women in their 50s, who often overlook the significance of weight training.
The other day, a woman in her 50s visited our gym and sat down for a consultation with me. As we talked, I got to the part where I asked, “Why did you come in today?” She told me how she needed to start specifically training with weights.
I asked if she had spoken with her doctor; she said, “Yes.”
I then followed up with, “Did he say you were prone to osteoporosis or had low levels of bone density?” She was mildly surprised and then asked how I knew. I informed her that we have many female clients over 50 in our gym, and quite a few have come in with the same issue. I then told her that many of them—if not all—who have stuck with weight training have come back to me crying with their bone density results, saying they are no longer at risk for osteoporosis.
It’s interesting to me that, with limitless information at our fingertips, we still fail to take care of ourselves.
I will be the first to say that exercise is not a desirable part of life; it is an essential part of life. I believe that with all my heart, so much so that I created a career out of it.
If you look up treatments for osteoporosis, there is a list of drugs you can take. However, if you type in “How can I treat it without taking pharmaceuticals?” The answer is regular exercise, more specifically, weight-bearing exercises. Seek a professional if you are scared, get quality coaching, and empower yourself.
When executed correctly, weightlifting can do amazing things for your body, but just like anything else, it can damage your body if done poorly.
Don’t be afraid of picking up a weight and thinking you’ll look like Arnold Schwarzenegger; we are genetically predisposed to how long our bones are. Weightlifting does not make you broader or lengthen your bones. It makes you strong, and it makes your bones strong.
It also makes you sexy. Strong is sexy. spt