One day this past week, I stepped into the company gym as I do every single workday only to find that something was new. Some of the existing cardio machines, two steppers and an elliptical trainer to be precise, had been moved around and one of the three ceiling-mounted televisions was gone entirely. Before I could even begin to wonder what was going on, it hit me. Turned out, the Fitness Center Overlords, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that what we gym-goers really needed were stronger hearts and better-performing lungs.

So off they had gone and splurged on two units of this monstrous marvel:

What is it? This, gentle reader, is the Precor AMT 100i, the newest revolution in cardio! So what can it do? This amazing machine has “Adaptive Motion Trainer” technology that allows it to vary from “Deep Lunges Mode” where the action is more like stepping, all the way to “Long Strides Mode” where you are making 27-inch long strides and all stages in-between as well (Read all about it! (PDF)). Feel like taking shorter strides? No problem, the AMT will adapt to it. Start taking longer strides and it will keep up with you.

So why am I critical about this choice of machine? Don’t get me wrong - as cardio machines go, this is probably as advanced a machine as a gym could possibly have. My biggest concern is the gym’s preponderance of endurance training over strength training. Many a request for additional weight-training equipment like barbells, heavier dumbbells an even as harmless a machine as a pull-up bar have all fallen on deaf ears - apparently weights heavier than 30 lb would be a liability for the company. I wonder if your toe would know the difference between a 30 lb weight and a 35 lb weight when it comes crashing down on it from a height of 3 feet.

Meanwhile, there has been a steady increase in the number of cardio machines. A couple of years ago we had 2 each of cycles, ellipticals, steppers and treadmills. Today we have 4 cycles, 4 treadmills, 4 steppers, 6 ellipticals and 2 new AMTs. From 8 to 20 cardio machines in 2 years and all that the weight-training group got was one lousy bench in addition to the existing one. Granted, this new one also declines, so Yay!

Maybe, just maybe, I can change their mind by showing them the results of a new study that finds that “Lifting weights [is as] ‘good as running’“. American scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) genetically modified mice to grow the specific type of muscle that results from strength-training (Type II muscle). They found that these mice were able to metabolize fat much better than regular mice and were even completely cured of fatty-liver symptoms and insulin resistance that they had acquired when their genes were not yet modified and they were fed a diet of fast foods:

“We’ve shown that Type II muscle does more than allow you to pick up heavy objects,” said Kenneth Walsh of BUSM. “It’s also important in controlling whole-body metabolism.”

The best part is that the mice continued to exhibit superior fat-loss even when they were continued to be fed a diet of high sugar/high fat foods!

“If you have these muscles, even when you are not doing much, you are still burning up energy. It’s a hot topic at the moment. It’s something that could be particul

arly useful for older people who may have trouble with endurance exercise, and it can be very satisfying because the effects of resistance training appear very quickly.” [BBC]

I have seen first-hand the lack of effect that increased endurance training has on weight-loss. There’s a guy in my gym who I have seen run for about 45 minutes almost every single workday for the last 2 years and if anything he’s probably put on a few pounds! The worse part is that the weight-gain is almost certainly fat because excessive cardio has the bad side-effect of making you lose the most valuable tissue in your body: your muscle! And women who fear they’ll bulk up have the least to worry - unless they take some form of performance enhancing drugs or steroids, it’s impossible for them to pile on excessively large amounts of muscle.

The advantages of moderate increases in muscle mass complemented by fat-loss has numerous advantages:

  • Increased metabolism: Your body is utilizing energy to maintain your new muscle-mass even when you are away from the gym.
  • Better body structure: Muscles are the fibers that truly give a person an attractive physique. Simply losing weight alone does not achieve the same results. A well-tone body naturally looks better than simply a thin one.
  • Increased ability to perform daily activities: Strong muscles overall will help you lift, pull, push, twist and perform numerous other daily activities with much greater ease.
  • Less susceptibility to injury: Strained back because you lifted that heavy suitcase? Sprained arm from that golf-swing? Not anymore! Regular strength-training exercises will keep you in top condition to perform these rare tasks with as equal an ease as regular tasks like carrying heavy grocery bags or lifting your kids.
  • Improved self-confidence: Your body is in the best shape it’s been. Your clothes are fitting better than ever. You are reducing your risk of contracting such serious conditions as diabetes, stroke, heart-disease and even cancer (yes, cancer). Now why would you not have an improved self-confidence?!

Here’s the bottom-line folks: Strength training should form the focus of any serious exercise regimen for all ages. Is cardio important? Absolutely! Cardiovascular exercises strengthen your heart muscles and increase your overall lung-capacity, a combination that directly elevates your stamina making things like running to catch that subway-train or climbing up a flight of stairs that much easier. Vigorous, interval-based, shorter-span (about 20 minutes at most) of cardiovascular exercises certainly have their benefits, but for overall fitness, weight-loss and a better physique, nothing beats strength-training and now we have the studies to prove it.

The best part is that for a vast majority of people, a good exercise bench and a set of dumbbells is all we’ll every need to exercise almost all the major muscle groups in our bodies. So just grab those weights and begin the transformation your body has been waiting for!

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