Tag: health

Weightlifting since September 2022

Here’s my overall journey. COVID took 2 weeks. A week after that I had a GI bug that forced me to eat bananas and tea for 2 days so I was weak as hell that week. In climbing I’m now doing 5.10+ regularly with a lot less can’t-even-get-off-the-ground failures. As soon as I do my first 5.11 I’ll try lead roping.

Workout analysis, 11/6/22 – 11/12/22

This week wasn’t ideal for exercise. I took 2 days off lifting and ended up both rock climbing and lifting on Saturday (11/12/22). The first day that I took off, Thursday, was because work was way too busy for me to take any time off. Then Friday was a holiday but I spent an hour working (2x pay per hour!) and spent the rest of the day with Mom. So the volume might not be as much as otherwise. I have to remind myself that my muscles won’t disappear if I don’t work out for 2 days.

Creatine in seniors

Sarcopenia is associated with reduced bone mass and bone strength and may be a contributing factor for the increased risks of falls and fractures often observed in aging adults. It is well established that resistance training is an effective lifestyle intervention for improving aging muscle mass, strength and bone accretion. Accumulating evidence indicates that creatine supplementation, with and without resistance training, has possible anti-sarcopenic and anti-dynapenic effects. Specifically, creatine supplementation increases aging muscle mass and strength (upper- and lower-body), possibly by influencing high-energy phosphate metabolism, muscle protein kinetics and growth factors. Creatine supplementation has shown potential to enhance bone mineral in some but not all studies, and seems to affect the activation of cells involved in both bone formation and resorption. Creatine has the potential to decrease the risk of falls experienced by aging adults which would subsequently reduce the risk of fracture. Finally, preliminary evidence suggests that creatine may have anti-inflammatory effects during times of elevated metabolic stress, such as during extended/intense aerobic exercise. 

Effectiveness of Creatine Supplementation on Aging Muscle and Bone: Focus on Falls Prevention and Inflammation

I have this giant bottle of Naked Creatine (I got it from Amazon) and I feel that it helps me retain and build muscle just a bit better, as long as I don’t forget to put it in my smoothies. Starting last week, I started to put ~5 grams of creatine into my mom’s protein smoothie, because there seems to be a generally positive effect of creatine use in adults. There’s some research into this topic.

Research articles on protein supplement or wine effects on health

Note: these are only a handful of studies compared to the multitudes of results I found on each topic. Please read widely to form a balanced perspective.

Effect of whey protein on blood pressure in pre‐ and mildly hypertensive adults: A randomized controlled study.

Moderate red wine consumption and cardiovascular disease risk: beyond the “French paradox”.

Effects of Whey and Pea Protein Supplementation on Post-Eccentric Exercise Muscle Damage: A Randomized Trial.

Effects of Whey Protein Supplementation Pre- or Post-Resistance Training on Muscle Mass, Muscular Strength, and Functional Capacity in Pre-Conditioned Older Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Protein Intake and Exercise-Induced Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: An Update.

The history, science, and art of wine and the case for health benefits: perspectives of an oenophilic cardiovascular pathologist. (There is a lot about wine itself in parts 1 – 10, and the parts about wine’s effects on health starts at part 11).