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I find gym culture to be a little too obsessed with appearances, whereas runners and cyclists are more about the activity than the mirror. I know they say strength training is good for longevity, but surely fitness is better for health?I didn’t start writing this answer immediately. It has been exactly two years since I woke up to the news that my father had died suddenly and unexpectedly — to us, at least.It is 11.14am now as I type this. And at the same time on the same date two years ago, I was in a vehicle travelling from the Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Gqeberha to see my mother, who was alone, some distance away, overlooking the ocean from her dream house. She and my dad spent decades finishing their retirement nest and they’d just left Joburg and moved in two or three months earlier.I didn’t listen to Andre speaking at me in the car. Stories about my father from his childhood. I didn’t care. The hollowness inside me could not make sense of how such a strong man, a man who overcame so much, a man who demonstrated remarkable resilience, had died so quickly. How a man who just three months earlier had drilled holes in my cottage wall — which I couldn’t despite all of my so-called gym strength — could call out my mother’s name one last time before departing with a quick, fatal heart attack.In addition to the family grief, it changed me. I became acutely aware of my own mortality. I, after all, am 50% of this man, in a simple way of understanding genetics. I have had a panic attack subsequently and rushed myself to hospital only to be told that “everything is fine”.We all have a time and date that will be memorialised. Some think it is already decided; others believe it is random. Whether it’s disease, an accident or so-called natural causes, we will all go. Hauntingly poignant.In this reality, what do we have some control over? Our health. And you are right, being fit is incredibly important for our cardiovascular health and much more. You are also right about the gym. An obsession with physique does not always equate to an obsession with health. Many of those bodies are achieved by creating more harm, deep inside, lurking in markers attached to the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, among many others.But a lean body with healthy muscle mass is also the side effect of doing the right training and making the right decisions. Don’t judge a book by its cover, but if the publisher is honest, the cover can also tell you what the story is about.You are sold on cardiovascular fitness. That’s good — move, with purpose, for as long as you are able. Run and cycle. But don’t give up on the fundamental truth that skeletal muscle tissue is vital for longevity.I could quote from dozens, who knows, maybe hundreds, of peer-reviewed studies that show the benefits of strength training. I have been doing this for years.But a study, published by the University of Edinburgh on June 30, stood out to me. The study, published in Radiology, suggests that having stronger skeletal muscle, particularly in the chest and back, may be linked to a lower risk of heart attacks in people over 50.According to the study, researchers used AI (who doesn’t?) to analyse heart scans from more than 1,700 people, mostly in their 50s, who had chest pain. According to the University of Edinburgh, they found that people with greater muscle density (note, they didn’t say size) “in their chest and back were less likely to have a heart attack or die in the decade after having the scan”.They went on to say that those with higher-quality skeletal muscle tend to be more physically active (quality of life?) and have stronger torso muscles. The University of Edinburgh article says: “Their findings suggest this may contribute to lower risk of heart attack and early death.”You know the facts. Ignore the mirror selfies in the gym; they’re really not doing it for you. None of us know when our hour will arrive, but if you want to increase the odds of it being later rather than sooner, continue to run and cycle and add in strength training. It’s the least we can do.Business Day
