
Photo: VD Photography, Unsplash
The Biochemistry Of Weightlifting’s Benefits Is Anything But Simple:
The straw-man. A gross oversimplification. Easy. Cheap. But inaccurate.
That’s how a lot of us deal with some ideas. It’s easier to oversimplify just so we can understand.
But the tradeoff is nuance and sophistication for speed and forward momentum.
And for decades, it seemed as if exercise nuts and gym-rats were just glorified meat-heads.
We also thought the exercise they did was just as one-dimensional. Overachieving for dimwit-narcissists.
But we were all wrong…
The Short Answer:
- Sometimes people and even !SCIENCE! oversimplify things.
- Recent studies show both cardio & weights extend lifespan.
- Weightlifting is also like Intermittent-Fasting.
- A U-Bonn team found a special protein is only released during a weights session.
- This thing travels around, finds damaged cells, and marks them for cleanup.
- Then when the body’s cleanup routine runs, it destroys them.
- This is very much like the routine that runs much better when you practice Intermittent-Fasting.
- It’s believed that it’s the main reason for people on I-F to live longer.
- Since I-F cleans up something called “Zombie Cells” everywhere, the muscle cleanup could also result in healthier muscles.
- Other work shows weightlifting also releases powerful anti-inflammatories and is associated with a 12% lower rate of Alzheimer’s Disease.
- !SCIENCE! will probably discover even more biochemistry and lifespan benefits like these in the future.
- If biotech companies get on it, they can even find a way to use these proteins to help people with muscle problems.
- They could also help people live longer, get stronger, or keep their strength longer into old age.
Read on to find out the details…
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Simple Exercise Is Not So Simple After-All:
The common view of any weight-bearing exercise is just to get bigger and stronger.
That’s it.
But as !SCIENCE! progresses, we’re learning a lot more about it and also cardio.
For example, people who do both tend to live longer than either would separately.
And a team at Bonn University is finding some really weird parallels to other diet & exercise trends.
Weightlifting’s Cleanup Routine Is Just Like Intermittent-Fasting:
Because what they found is that lifting weights is just like Intermittent-Fasting.
Wait, What?
Jorg Hohfeld’s team discovered a protein that helps clean your body up,
And it only comes out to play during weightlifting.
What it does is very similar to the cleanup routine from Intermittent Fasting, but just in the first stage.
This protein finds damaged parts of muscle all around your body and true to its name (BAG3), it wraps them up so they can be disposed of later.
Then when the body’s general cleanup routine comes around, it finds these wrappers very easily and takes out the trash!
Zombie-Cell Cleanup Might Be Another Source Of Longevity:
Well that’s great, but is there anything more?
Yup. There is!
Because one of the chief ways researchers think Intermittent Fasting extends lifespan is through the cleanup of “Zombie Cells“.
These cells would ordinarily just hang around, putting out all kinds of inflammatory chemicals and generally screwing up the area around them.
But when the I-F cleanup routine (called Autophagy) comes around, it destroys and disposes of them.
Well, what if this new mechanism for muscles stopped cells that might have similar effects in muscle tissue, leaving room for healthier, stronger muscles?
The BAG3 Cleanup Joins An Increasing List Of Health Benefits:
But the benefits don’t stop there!
Just as we told you awhile ago that cardio cleans out your brain and may even delay or prevent Alzheimer’s.
It turns out that people who lift weights and have higher lean mass also have a 12% reduction in rates for that disease.
And if that weren’t enough, weightlifting also releases at least two powerful anti-inflammatories.
So you are getting that exercise high and also putting-out fires all over your body as well!
The Future Of Exercise Benefit Research Is Only Getting Brighter:
A few more takeaways might be:
1) Expect many more benefits like this in the future
2) Expect many of the benefits of cardio can also come from weightlifting
3) When biotechs find a way to copy the muscle-cleanup protein, they can use it to help everybody
Because with respect to 3), there are a few problems people have with muscles even before old age,
And several more as they do in-fact get older.
Well, what would that future look like if we had a pill for people who have trouble getting started and building-back muscle?
Maybe it could help people in trouble and then later, those who want to get healthier, fitter, and live longer, too?
As long as researchers keep finding this molecular-magic, the sky is probably the limit!
References & Links:
• Source: Uni-Bonn
• Source Study:
• Cell/CurrentBio – Force-induced dephosphorylation activates the cochaperone BAG3 to coordinate protein homeostasis and membrane traffic
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