What’s the largest organ in the body? Unless you’re playing Jeopardy, skin isn’t the answer. Doctor of bioenergetics Andy Galpin says, To be an endocrine organ, signals must be sent. And as of recent studies, muscle is actually our biggest organ. Muscle is sending signals to the brain, liver, immune system, nervous system, and skeletal system (Galpin, 2015). Because of this, overall muscle function and development is a direct link to our overall quality of life. Typically the more severe the chronic disease, the more sarcopenia and muscle atrophy we see; ultimately affecting our quality of life.
With that being said, pound for pound (literally and figuratively), the back squat is one of, if not the best, resistance training exercises we could do for ourselves. But is it for everyone? What about your grandmother? What if I’ve had a back injury? Now, degrees of intensity and volume are an entirely different subject but the fact of the matter is everyone should squat to some degree. Dr. Andy Galpin made a fantastic point, if we stopped relying on prescriptions to aid in the heart’s performance in elder adults and focus more on resistance training, reliance on the prescriptions and dosages would be affected drastically (Galpin, 2015). Why?
Simply put, for many elderly individuals even simple tasks are a max effort attempt! Standing from a chair may take an elderly individual all they have because the muscles are so undertrained and resistance training isn’t event being considered as a modality. That’s why the heart rate spikes to drastically just to stand up, it’s a max effort attempt! Let’s look on the opposite end of the spectrum. Take a lineman from the NFL and load them for a back squat 1 repetition max. If the athlete successfully completes the repletion the heart rate will be spiked because it was a fully body effort. For an older adult, standing up from that chair is their 1 repetition maximum! With appropriate fitness prescription this could be changed.
What if I have low back pain? Should I squat
One study examined the effects of a 6 week program with patients who had failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS). The study defined FBSS as patients who had undergone lumbar spinal surgery but still suffered with pain after completion of the procedure. One subject in particular completed a take home program that included repetitive bodyweight squats. The patient had an L5-S1 discectomy seven months prior and now had returning pain. After a 6 week bodyweight squat program that she initially only completed 15 repetitions she was able to complete 30 with training. The best part is that according to the Oswestry low back pain questionnaire, the patient was 68% disabled prior to testing and dropped to 28% after 6 weeks! Pain intensity also dropped from what was initially 4 out of 5 to now a 1 out of 5 (Adams, 2004).
Moving Back to Life
Another study examined the effects of a resistance training program with Alzheimer’s patients. Participants were tested in the chair squat, left/right leg stance, timed get up and go test, and 2 minute walk test at the beginning and the end of the study. For five months, participants completed an upper and lower body resistance training program three times a week. Exercises included seated rows, military press, leg press and hip flexion/extension. No significant change was seen in the timed get up and go test, but scores were doubled in the chair leg squat test and tripled in the 2 minute step test! Gait speed also went from an average of 55cm/s to 68cm/sec. Quality of life was improved from just completing a simple resistance training program completed three times a week. If a patient can now stand safely and get from point A to point B efficiently, we’ve know made someone that much more independent. And in this scenario independence correlates to confidence resulting in a better quality of life. Thus, resistance exercise should be emphasized to break the chain reaction of inactivity, muscle weakening, loss of functional ability, and development of metabolic diseases (Ahn & Kim, 2015).
Another study examined the effects of training on patients with McArdle disease. McArdle disease affects the breakdown of glycogen, where breakdown practically fails within the muscle resulting in exercise intolerance. Participants performed baseline testing before and after the 4 month training period. A large muscle group training circuit including leg press that eventually transitioned to half squat and low reps were used to allow phosphocreatine as the main energy source. The results showed a positive impact on lean mass in upper/lower body, bench press power increased by +52 W and leg press increased by +173 W. That’s not even the best part! Out of the 7 participants all of them dropped to a lower class of severity and 2 participants dropped to the lowest class meaning they are nearly symptom free. Santalla (2014) found that ..when considering that ~60% of them originally belonged to the highest severity class and thus had fixed muscle weakness and limitations during daily living activities such as house-hold tasks. Overall quality of life was improved as they moved their way back to life one rep at a time.
References:
- Adams, V. (2004). The rehabilitation of a patient with functional instability associated with failed back surgery. Journal Of Chiropractic, 41(12), 31-39.
- Ahn, N., & Kim, K. (2015). Effects of an elastic band resistance exercise program on lower extremity muscle strength and gait ability in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 27(6), 1953 1955.
- Galpin, Andy. (2015, January 14). The 3 things most people don’t now about muscle. Barbell Shrugged. Podcast retrieved from https://daily.barbellshrugged.com/category/podcast-2/
- Santalla, A., Mungu a-Izquierdo, D., Brea-Alejo, L., Pagola-Aldaz bal, I., D ez-Bermejo, J., Fleck, S. J., Lucia, A. (2014). Feasibility of resistance training in adult McArdle patients: clinical outcomes and muscle strength and mass benefits. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6, 334.
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