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The Way You Build Muscle Is the Way You Build a Life
“Make me a muscle.”Even at 5, 6, 7, 8 years old, I knew to stick my arm out obligingly and contract my biceps. My father, passing through the room on his way somewhere else, would give my upper arm a squeeze and laugh. “Very good,” he’d say. Then he’d make a muscle back and ask, “Am I fit or what?” It became a family joke.My father, who at age 21 moved from Hong Kong to New York in the late 1960s, was more an acolyte of Bruce Lee than of Jack LaLanne. But he’d long been an attentive multidisciplinary student of what I’ll call Muscle Academy. Everything from practicing judo, taekwondo (in which he earned a brown belt) and karate (a black belt) to steeping himself in fitness Americana: bodybuilding competitions on TV, a subscription to Muscle & Fitness, sketches of famous athletes. By day, he was a professional artist who, among many other accomplishments, created the posters advertising the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo on ABC and, with them, the glorification of the competitors — our modern gods on Earth. On the wall above my bed at home on Long Island, I hung my favorite of the series, an ice skater midspin, all fury and speed.We always had a makeshift home gym, equipped with a motley collection of free weights, hand grips and pull-up bars, as well as nunchaku, jump-ropes and heavy punching bags. As far back as memory serves, my brother and I were drafted to join our father in training sessions. A recently unearthed Polaroid shows us, impossibly tiny in diapers and barely a year apart, standing alongside our father — who was indeed impressively fit in his swim trunks — all of us proudly grinning, arms akimbo in a superhero pose. It was 1979, the heyday of the movie “Superman.” All we needed were three capes to complete the look. “Am I fit or what?”Every evening in the garage, the three of us moved in formation: forward kick, side kick, roundhouse kick. Our father would ask us to hold down his legs while he did sit-ups, or my brother and I would dangle from his biceps like a pair of baby monkeys while he lifted and swung us. After dinner, under the yellow sodium glare of the neighborhood streetlights, we’d flank him on nighttime jogs down to the parking lot behind our pediatrician’s office, a mile away. We’d chase lightning bugs — and our dad.Exercise was fun in our house, because our father was a perpetual kid, wonderful at playing. Certainly, there was a measure of vanity involved. He had a febrile imagination; as he molded us into miniature versions of him, he enjoyed the fantasy that he could live forever through us, his modest experiment in immortality. “Pick a sport,” he said. First, we tried soccer, which didn’t stick, then swimming, which did.What did we learn, as children, from all of this early training? That being strong was good, for both of us. Perhaps the most striking thing about the physical education my brother and I received under the tutelage of our father was that he trained us equally, without regard for size, age or gender. He set us upon each other for sparring practice. If one of us kicked or punched the other to tears, my father would exclaim, “You forgot to block!” Then he’d laugh his big laugh, dispense fierce hugs and have us go another round.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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Is Skipping Really a Good Workout?
It feels like play. Here’s what fitness experts say about using the activity as a training tool.When kids skip, it rarely looks like work. There’s something playful, almost primitive, about the urge to bound yourself forward through space, your body briefly levitating with each stride. And yet, as adults, many of us quit.But skipping has entered the social media conversation, thanks in part to a recent episode of Andrew Huberman’s podcast, during which the track coach Stuart McMillan touted the activity as an overlooked form of exercise for athletes of all levels.The enthusiasm is deserved, fitness experts told The Times. The movement, which is a form of plyometric training and basically involves a step and a hop on repeat, can help build power, agility and speed, and improve coordination, balance and mobility.Here’s how to make skipping work for you.Can skipping really improve your fitness?When you’re a kid, skipping is a key part of motor development — it helps you develop the power and coordination needed for running, and an awareness of where your body is in space, known as proprioception, said Mary Winfrey-Kovell, a senior lecturer of exercise science at Ball State University.As an adult, you can benefit from going back to these basics, she said. “You’re challenging just about every muscle in your body” when you skip, she added, particularly if you swing your arms — and you’re training your brain to react more quickly.Skipping can also improve balance and stability, since it requires hopping on one leg at a time, said Grayson Wickham, a physical therapist in New York City and the founder of the stretching and mobility app Movement Vault.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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Rest Days Are Good. Active Recovery Days Can Be Better.
Low-impact, easy workouts can offer relief for sore muscles.Rest is an important piece of any exercise routine, and on some days all your body needs is a long lounge on the couch. But active recovery, which falls somewhere between a full rest day and a workout, can help your body bounce back more quickly.Research has found that low-impact movement, such as walking or swimming, can be more effective than rest for reducing muscle soreness after exercise. That may be why competitive and elite athletes have long incorporated active recovery into their training schedules, though there’s not enough evidence to say that it improves athletic performance.If you’re exercising regularly, doing something on a recovery day is often better than doing nothing, said J. Jay Dawes, a professor of applied exercise science at Oklahoma State University, especially if your goal is to reduce soreness between workouts. Light movement like walking can increase blood flow and circulation, and “literally as little as a stroll can be beneficial,” he said.Here’s how to use active recovery to your advantage, according to exercise scientists and coaches.Why is active recovery helpful?When you exercise, your body cycles between periods of stress and repair. Your muscles may be sore or tight after a hard workout, but with proper recovery that short-term soreness gives way to increased fitness.Recovery days — both active ones and full rest days — allow your body to repair your muscles and replenish its stores of energy, said Kate Baird, an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Active recovery can provide some pain relief by reducing soreness, she added, and promote better mobility and range of motion.For anyone who follows a training schedule or exercises regularly, active recovery days can be mentally beneficial too, said Conrad Goeringer, who is an Ironman-certified coach and the founder of Working Triathlete, a coaching service. Continuing to move — however easily — can have a calming or meditative effect that full day of inactivity doesn’t always provide.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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A 25-Minute Strength Workout for Beginners
If you’re new to lifting, navigating the weight room can feel like a bigger challenge than the workout itself. But it’s worth overcoming that initial intimidation; a regular strength training regimen can positively impact mental health, improve longevity and make it easier to accomplish daily tasks. That’s even more important as you age, when loss of muscle strength can put you at greater risk of falling.By focusing your workout on a combination of machines and free weights, you can create a simple and well-rounded program that can be easily progressed as your strength improves.A good rule of thumb for a comprehensive workout is to include one exercise that hits each of the fundamental movement patterns. In other words: “Push something, pull something, do something for your legs, do something for your core,” said Kelvin Gary, a New York City-based personal trainer and gym owner.While it may be tempting to design your workouts around aesthetic goals like bigger biceps, Mr. Gary recommends focusing instead on movements that improve overall strength by incorporating multiple joints and muscle groups. “Train movements, not muscles,” he said. OverviewTime: 25 minutesIntensity: MediumWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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A Beginner’s Guide to the Weight Room
Lifting at your local gym can be intimidating. Here’s how to get started.The first time I approached the weight room at my local gym, over a decade ago, I froze with fear in the doorway. The maze of complicated-looking equipment — and the crowd of people who already knew what they were doing — were immediately intimidating.After mustering the confidence to ask one of the in-house trainers for a tour, I learned that most weight rooms consist of two main sections: the free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells) and the machines. You can build a well-rounded routine using one section or a combination of the two.Even one strength session a week can have a positive impact on your health. “Overall the biggest benefit comes from doing nothing to doing something,” said Lauren Colenso-Semple, a muscle physiologist. Strength training has been shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality, decrease symptoms of depression and minimize fall risks, among other benefits.Using both machines and free weights can also make it easier to perform daily tasks, by improving your joint mobility and range of motion. “Being a stronger and more muscular person makes you a more functional person,” Dr. Colenso-Semple said.Weight MachinesWeight machines are a great introduction to strength training because they are relatively safe and easier to master than free weights, said Kelvin Gary, a New York City-based personal trainer and gym owner. And, according to several recent studies, machines are just as good as free weights for improving muscle mass and strength.George Etheredge for The New York TimesGeorge Etheredge for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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Time to Say Goodbye to the B.M.I.?
The body mass index has long been criticized as a flawed indicator of health. A replacement has been gaining support: the body roundness index.Move over, body mass index. Make room for roundness — to be precise, the body roundness index.The body mass index, or B.M.I., is a ratio of height to weight that has long been used as a medical screening tool. It is one of the most widely used health metrics but also one of the most reviled, because it is used to label people overweight, obese or extremely obese.The classifications have been questioned by athletes like the American Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher, whose B.M.I. of 30 technically puts her on the cusp of obesity. “But alas,” she said on Instagram, addressing online trolls who tried to shame her about her weight, “I’m going to the Olympics and you’re not.”Advocates for overweight individuals and people of color note that the formula was developed nearly 200 years ago and based exclusively on data from men, most of them white, and that it was never intended for medical screening. Even physicians have weighed in on the shortcomings of B.M.I. The American Medical Association warned last year that B.M.I. is an imperfect metric that doesn’t account for racial, ethnic, age, sex and gender diversity. It can’t differentiate between individuals who carry a lot of muscle and those with fat in all the wrong places.“Based on B.M.I., Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was a bodybuilder would have been categorized as obese and needing to lose weight,” said Dr. Wajahat Mehal, director of the Metabolic Health and Weight Loss Program at Yale University.“But as soon as you measured his waist, you’d see, ‘Oh, it’s 32 inches.’”So welcome a new metric: the body roundness index. B.R.I. is just what it sounds like — a measure of how round or circlelike you are, using a formula that takes into account height and waist, but not weight.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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6 Exercises to Help You Move Easier
When you sit in a chair, lift a package off the floor or climb a flight of stairs, your body is doing some form of squatting, hinging or lunging. But just because you perform these movements every day doesn’t mean you’re doing them correctly. Whether you round your back while lifting or overload your knees when you stand up, repeatedly moving with poor form can lead to pain and injury.Training these six fundamental movements — hinge, squat, lunge, push, pull and rotation — can help you accomplish daily tasks more easily and without pain as you age. Similar to a musician practicing their scales, mastering the basics can help you expand your range of motion, said Beth Lewis, a movement and exercise specialist based in New York City.Through procedural memory, you learn and store movements to perform them without thinking about each step. That’s what allows you to hop on a bike and start pedaling, but it can also cause you to compromise your form hundreds of times a day without noticing.There are a few versions of the fundamental movements framework, but the idea behind each one is the same: to build functional fitness by mimicking the motions you use for everyday tasks. Each of the exercises below, which you can easily train at home or in the gym, corresponds with a key movement pattern that you use in daily life.OverviewTime: 12 minutesIntensity: LowWhat You’ll NeedLight or medium resistance bandA light dumbbell or kettlebell (choose a weight that feels challenging for the last 15 seconds of each exercise, but you should still be able to maintain your form)How OftenIf you don’t currently do any strength training, begin with three days per week and progress to daily over time. You can also complete one set of this routine as a warm-up for other forms of exercise.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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A 12-Minute Workout to Build Foot Strength
Much like how the network of muscles around the hips, pelvis and back act like scaffolding for the spine, the tiny muscles within the feet are responsible for supporting the arch, absorbing load and keeping you stable when you walk or run.“You put four to six times your body weight through your feet when you walk,” said Courtney Conley, the founder of Gait Happens, a Colorado-based online education resource focused on foot health. “And 11 times your body weight when you run.”These muscles within the foot, known as the foot core, are activated when we walk barefoot but become dormant and weak when we wear narrow, cushioned footwear, Dr. Conley said.Over time, a weak foot core alters your gait and can lead to falls and injuries, such as shin splints. Therefore, anyone who spends a lot of time on their feet — such as a nurse or restaurant server and people who run or walk for fitness — could benefit from adding foot strengthening exercises to their routine, said Dr. Conley.If you want to strengthen your running game or simply protect your feet as you age, try the following five drills, listed from easiest to most challenging. They won’t take more than 12 minutes to complete in one session, but you can also sprinkle them throughout your day.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
