Abs are made in the kitchen. Any fitness expert will tell you this. Without proper nutrition, no amount of working out is going to outweigh a bad diet. That said, strength training is perhaps the most effective route when it comes to maintaining a healthy and strong body.
If you are into fitness—and everyone should be—Physician Megan Yeh and Strength Coach Pete Yeh have a refreshing take on staying fit, particularly as we age. The best part? It's as simple as it is effective, and can be adopted by anyone.
Starting Strength fitness, a boutique fitness studio the husband and wife team own, is an effective strength training program where measurable results are guaranteed, regardless of your age or fitness level.
The model involves utilizing loaded normal human movement—full-body compound barbell exercises—the squat (getting up out of a chair), deadlift (picking something up off the floor), overhead press (moving things above your head) and bench press (pushing something away from you), that allow the body to work as a system in a way that builds strength throughout the entire body. Workouts take place in a small group setting and are programmed and coached to ensure appropriate form and individualization to each member’s specific needs and fitness level.
The gym itself is a very intimate environment with members fist-bumping each other when they reach their next PR (personal record) lift, laughing and conversing in-between sets, and undoubtedly having a good time. Whether members are 20 or 80 years old, they are there to increase strength and in turn, improve their metabolic health.
As for the importance of gaining muscle? Our muscles use most of the energy we consume in the form of food, making it the primary driver of our metabolism.
“Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes with aging and this loss accelerates after age 65,” Megan explains. “Over time, your body fat percentage will increase if you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose. By middle age, metabolic conditions like diabetes and obesity start popping up, especially in those that are sedentary."
She continues, "When faced with this situation, most people add in cardio or light dumbbells in an attempt to lose weight and gain strength. And while any exercise is beneficial, I think people are often disappointed with their results with this kind of regimen. Their cholesterol and diabetes numbers don’t improve and they still struggle to lose weight."
"What we do is very different," Pete says. "We train. Everything is quantifiable and efficient. We check progress with each workout. Our goal is to create long-term, lasting adaptations to your body, which is predicated on building muscle mass. When done properly, lifting heavier weights is the most efficient way to add lean muscle mass quickly. Extra lean muscle mass will rev up your metabolism 24 hours a day rather than just when you’re working out."
Training for strength also makes your bones stronger, provides you resilience to injury, improves joint strength and reduces joint pain—not to mention leaves you less stressed, mentally stronger and helps with sleep.
While the message may lean toward an older audience looking to prevent frailty, the workouts truly are for everyone—from foodies wanting to maintain a healthy body composition to postpartum women struggling with losing the baby weight, strength training is a game-changer for your body and mind.
“As we get older, we need to be more intentional about the way we work out," Megan says. "If applied consistently, Starting Strength is an effective total body workout that can be accomplished in 3-4.5 hours per week with life-changing results.”
Ultimately, it’s the coaching that is the key to the castle at Starting Strength. The coaching
specifically delivers the metabolic health that the gym-goer knows they want, through the
strength training programming that they don’t know they need.