After a number of unsuccessful wakeboarding attempts at a cottage a few weeks ago I came home with a bit of a bruised ego, not to mention a sore lower back. Maybe it’s because I wrenched it trying to turn the board sideways and glide it up over the water (I’m told the board does this on it’s own if you “let it” but I think one of my more successful friends was just rubbing it in). Maybe it’s because I wanted to stand up so bad I held onto the rope as the boat wrenched me through the waves.

Either way, I ended up at work the next week with pain that made it difficult to sit for any length of time. The pain made my Pilates and yoga classes even more difficult. After some rest and stretching I’ve gotten back to my usual routine, but it got me thinking. I consider myself to have a pretty strong core. I do Pilates several times a week and never neglect the less popular core muscles (transverse abdominis, erector spinae) in favor of working my six pack muscles. I make sure my movements are slow and controlled, with deep breathing and a focus on quality over quantity.

You may take this to mean that it doesn’t matter what you do or how good of shape you are in, you can still get injured. I guess that’s true, but I look at it as a sign that what I’ve been doing has paid off. It took a lot of abuse before my back let me know it wasn’t happy. Imagine I’d strained it lifting a heavy box or that it simply hurt due to lack of muscle strength. After the strain I got back on my feet pretty quickly. Because of my experience with strength and flexibility training I knew what I could and could not do and worked my way up to being pain-free. I feel sorry for people who haven’t experienced how healing strength training and can be.

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To complete the circle I started with my last few posts, now is as good a time as any to address muscle – more specifically why you should want it, how to keep what you’ve already got and the best way to get more.

Why you should want muscle– Aside from the fact that a tight, toned body looks great? How about that it feels great to be strong and capable of taking on anything life throws at you. It’s an unbeatable feeling when you can finally lift that weight you never thought you could or when you finally spot the first signs of definition in your shoulders. Then there’s the fact that having more muscle means having a higher metabolism.

How to keep the muscle you’ve got – Here’s the bad news, if you haven’t so much as lifted a 2 lb dumbbell in the past few years your body’s percentage of muscle is already decreasing. And the older you get the quicker muscle makes its retreat. But just one day a week of resistance training can stop the decline. Bump that up to two or three days a week and you’ll start gaining back muscle that’s been lost and then some. Just ask yourself, do you have 30 minutes to spare?

The best way to get more muscle – This one’s easy, lift weights. The more often you lift a certain weight, the better your body becomes at doing it. Your muscles grow and adapt to become more efficient. The weight you once struggled to finish 12 repetitions with will feel like a breeze in a few weeks or months time. At that point simply increase the weight or up the repetitions for more challenge. If you don’t have access to weights, no problem. Resistance bands are a cheap alternative and work just as well. You can also get an awesome total body workout using no equipment whatsoever. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, just a few sessions with an understanding personal trainer can give you the confidence you need to continue muscle building and toning on your own.

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