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You Need Both Muscle Strength and Power · HER

0:07
Pam Peeke, MD: Hi, I am Dr.
0:08
Pam Peak, and This is episode 559 of the Bold And the Brave, her Podcast.
0:18
Now today I'm joined by a fellow American College of Sports
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Medicine Fitness professional.
0:27
Who's gonna be enlightening us about something I can guarantee,
0:33
you know, bupkis about.
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Alright, we're gonna be talking about muscle power versus muscle strength.
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See, I told you, you know nothing about this.
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Nothing, nothing.
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And This is so.
0:50
So important for you.
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You gotta know.
0:53
You gotta know.
0:55
So who are we gonna be talking to today?
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Our expert is George Yusef.
1:00
Now.
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He's an exercise physiologist on the sports rehabilitation and
1:07
performance team at the hospital for special surgery in New York.
1:13
I wanna give them a shout out for doing a fantastic job of getting
1:18
you all ready for this podcast.
1:20
You got quite a little team over there.
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So Rachel and her team rock on.
1:25
Now he got his bachelor's degree in exercise science at a Delphi University.
1:31
And here's the thing, you know, he walks the talk or soccer's the talk.
1:36
Um, he also played collegiate soccer, and that's how this
1:39
whole thing started because.
1:41
Didn't soccer about muscle power.
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I'm just saying we're gonna get there.
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And then he went on, to pursue his master's degree at Adelphi University.
1:51
Um, and boy oh boy has he had a lot of time and fun working with the
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American College of Sports Medicine, where he became a certified clinical
2:01
exercise physiologist through them.
2:04
Now I just wanna let you know.
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The American College of Sports Medicine is the premier body for this.
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If you get anything from them, if you are certified by run to
2:15
this person, because it is by far the hardest certification to get.
2:20
And I, I've just gotta tell you, you know, hats off to you, George, on that one.
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So rock on now.
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George, you were quoted in a, really cool article.
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Um, that all of us physicians read.
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It's, it's in Medscape, which is considered hallowed ground.
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Um, and I, I tell you, I almost fell off my chair.
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I was so happy someone was finally talking about muscle power Now.
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Everyone out here in the her podcast land knows for a fact that I ran and
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rave about muscle strength all the time.
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You know, I'm a resistance trained athlete and I know.
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I know the statistics on what happens if you do not have muscle
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strength, especially as you age after, um, say 50 years old or more.
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Um, And in your seventh decade you're gonna drop some of that
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lean body mass just by virtue of age, And that happens to Olympians.
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So, you know, get ready.
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So George, what got you interested in this whole issue of muscle power?
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George Yusuff, MS: Hi, I'm, uh, thank you for having me.
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Um, really appreciate it.
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well, I first really got involved with Muscle Power when I was at
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college, so Delphi University.
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Um, really through my undergraduates and my graduate studies.
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Um, I was really interested in a personal way on how I could make myself
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the best soccer player I can beat.
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that was always my aim.
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Somehow I could get a little advantage, over my opponents in any way.
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Even the smallest little advantage can mean that.
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Difference in a lot of, um, competitive sports.
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So I was really trying to give myself the best edge I could.
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Then I kind of got to muscle power And we were a lot of training with our strength
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and conditioning coach, kind of the Olympic lifts, very kind of complicated
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movements, which were very beneficial and led to a lot of success for our team.
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but then also working.
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With different clients, um, through the whole spectrum really.
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Um, different clients were younger athletes that wanted to be similar to
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me, very good at their sport, And also individuals kind of either retired or
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later on in life that also wanted to learn about muscle power as well as strength and
4:45
how to really, boost longevity and health.
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Pam Peeke, MD: Alright, let's define muscle power.
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We know its strength is, and That is, can you lift a certain weight, right?
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That's strength.
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So, you know, if I ask you to lift a, you know, a 25 pound
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bag of dog food, can you do it?
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Can you lift your groceries?
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That type of thing.
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But what's muscle power then?
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George Yusuff, MS: Good question.
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Um, so muscle power, the difference that kind of sets between muscle strength and
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power is the inclusion of a time aspect.
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So the equation for muscle power is force times velocity.
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So essentially, how quickly can you create that force and move that force?
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So when we're thinking about strengths, we really wanna move a high amount of force.
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We're not too concerned about the time aspect.
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However, when it comes to power, the force, the time, the velocity of the
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movement is what's really important.
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Pam Peeke, MD: Alright.
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Why is it so important?
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I mean, in the article from Medscape, they quote an observational
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study that just came out by Mayo Clinic proceedings And in it,
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Noted that it was the first-time when they compared upper limb measurements
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of muscle power and strength in a large sample of the same individuals,
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and they found that muscle power.
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Now get this folks significantly outperforms strength in
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predicting drum roll.
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Natural causes of mortality.
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What most people, I'll bet you're out there saying, well, wait a minute.
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Thought you'd been telling me all along that, you know, I had to get
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strong and I'll be cool then so I can lift that heavy bag or whatever.
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Now you're adding another element.
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So tell us more about what that study showed.
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George Yusuff, MS: Study.
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So yes, a lot lately.
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Power.
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Stronger predictor of, longevity.
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The natural strength.
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Strength is very, very important.
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Um, to build that strength.
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We also need a foundation, a strong foundation of strength
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in order to progress to power.
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but that study was very important.
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It was very kind of bring to life.
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Because one of the major, risks as we age is falls risk.
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one fall can be almost debilitating and could be very, very serious.
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So, it just takes one fall.
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Um, so we need a degree of strength, obviously, to avoid falling, to keep up
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good posture, but that's where the power comes in with the thought of velocity and
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how quickly we can produce that force.
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If we lose our balance, how quickly can we recapture that force?
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It's good to be able to create a lot of force, but in that moment we need
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to be able to do it very quickly in order to catch our balance and regain
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ourselves to prevent that fall.
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Pam Peeke, MD: The number one prerogative of the human body as I've you know.
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Repeatedly stated in other podcasts is survival.
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If you have to survive.
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Something's going on, right?
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So maybe someone's running after you, right?
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You don't convene a committee and discuss it like, you know, what should
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we do with this guy running after me?
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No, you run like hell is what you do.
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What if suddenly, You know, you're sitting down and somebody spills, uh,
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some very hot liquid on you, like coffee?
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What are you gonna do?
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Just sit there and go, you know?
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Wonder what I should know.
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You're hopping out of that chair in about, hmm, You know, two nanoseconds
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if it took you that long because you need to immediately attend to burns.
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Right.
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So one of the things that I loved about this muscle power thing is
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it, it gave purpose and meaning behind why you even care about it.
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It's because when you're actually trying to survive.
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You're actually moving kind of quickly.
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There are certain things that are going on that you need to address
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immediately, and they require you to hop outta your chair to move quickly.
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How about getting up off the floor quickly, like, oh my God.
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You know, I have to run after that grandchild and You know,
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whatever, um, something's going on.
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So the way I look at it is muscle power really addresses survival.
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Does that make sense?
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George Yusuff, MS: Absolutely.
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that's a very key point.
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I like to think of it as well.
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I think that's where the kind of confusion becomes with muscle power.
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Its always kind of.
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Oh, that's an athletic thing.
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That's just, um, athletes just need power.
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But we've seen kind of the decline in power as we age.
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It is significantly greater than the decline in strength.
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So in order, as you put to survive, in order to really get there quickly, And
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that speed aspect again that we mentioned, that velocity, so kind of even from our
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neurological aspects of we're sending impulse to the muscle to contract, we need
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a phishing pathways in order to do that.
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Pam Peeke, MD: What happens over time when you're young, you've
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got muscle power and strength.
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Right.
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You know, when you were younger in college and kicking the damn soccer ball
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around, um, You know, you were cool.
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What happens over age to muscle and power and when does that begin?
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George Yusuff, MS: Um, inevitably it is gonna decline.
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the latest studies that are coming out shows the power decline significantly
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more rapidly than strength.
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kind of within the previous lot of research we've been seeing around
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50 years old around menopause.
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but the more research that's been coming out, especially the research article
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you, um, mentioned earlier, ces, it can start as early as 30 years old.
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So that's very young to be starting that decline.
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And they also mentioned that in women, um, that decline will be greater.
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So that's very concerning.
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And the one thing that I Loy, I would like to touch about that article, um,
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it's that even though they initially started a decline, the muscle mass stays
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relatively stable for a period of time.
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It's the power, the strength, And also we mentioned the VO two.
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So it's the muscle quality that's really decreasing.
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So even if they're maintaining or we're able to maintain that muscle mass, the
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quality of muscle is still declining.
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That's where that power and strength output really comes into play.
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Pam Peeke, MD: I think that That is so ridiculously important, you know,
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that I'm a body composition nutcase.
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Um, And so, You know, obviously when we measure body
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composition, we're looking at.
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Um, the total amount of lean body, mass and muscle and uh, at the
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same time, fat and bone, et cetera.
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And I think a lot of people get complacent, oh look, you know, I
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still have the same amount of muscle.
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I haven't lost much.
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And they say, I'm good.
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You know, like, we're good here.
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And what you're saying is, eh, not really.
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Um, if you are, let's just stick to women.
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Um, so if we look at women.
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Muscle power and strength both.
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They peak around somewhere between 25 and 35 years old.
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And that makes sense.
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You know, bone peaks at that same time.
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Right.
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And then you've got this, you know, slow, somewhat, you know, slow,
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gradual decrease in power and strength.
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But what you are saying is that one of the first things to go is power, not strength.
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Ooh, that's scary.
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Yes.
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George Yusuff, MS: yeah, it's very scary.
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Um,
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yeah, power declines greater.
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I think it's also due to the neurological component of, um, power as well.
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Um, so the rate of force development, how efficient our neurological system
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is at sending the impulses to the muscle, tying us to contract, how
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quickly we can contract the efficiency And the quality of the muscle
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contraction as we decline and with age.
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Pam Peeke, MD: Okay, so what you're giving me is another reason to be
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depressed about the aging process.
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You already threw out menopause And the lost half the audience, they're
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like, no, come on, not one more thing.
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Gimme a break here.
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Um, but you know, that's something that mass majority people don't know.
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You lose that power edge going real quickly, you know, and back and forth.
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But You know, uh, what you're saying also is based upon the
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study, you better hold onto it.
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You know, what's interesting about this?
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Um, I wanna say that in the study, um, they were using a specific.
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power movements, um, in the upper body to be able to measure, power.
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But for strength, it was very interesting.
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They used one of my most favorite things, the hand grip.
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So I have my own little Camry.
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Of course you have the fancy schmancy 'cause you're at the
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hospital for special surgery.
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But I've got my little $30, you know, Camry.
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And by the way, I have nothing to do with the company.
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Um, it's just that it's, it's been around since dinosaurs rule the earth.
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Um, and it is cheap and it's straightforward and you
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just simply squeeze down.
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And that hand grip is actually used as a metric to be able to look at whole body.
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Strength So, It has nothing to do other than, you know, you didn't
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break your hand or something, but has nothing to do with how strong your
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hand is, has nothing to do with that.
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It's just that it's actually a full manifestation of your entire body.
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And the way I do it is I kind of really bear down, so I get
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my whole body involved in it.
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There's also one that, um, has been used, um, by exercise physiologists and physical
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therapists, um, where you're sitting and, um, that's a sitting hand grip.
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but I, I would so encourage you to go out and purchase the hand grip equipment.
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And what I do is I measure myself, um, about once a month, right?
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And I wanna make sure.
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I'm crushing it.
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Okay, so in the hand grip box, comes a little, a sheet of paper that has all
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the norms for male and female, right.
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And it, shows you weak, average, and strong for that particular.
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Gender and age, right?
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And so what's really cool is when you, You know, you look at your number and
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you go, Hey, You know, and you look at the piece of paper and you go, dang,
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You know, I'm right up there with somebody 20 years younger than I am.
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I so crushed it today.
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And so I just love that feeling.
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And it doesn't matter where you start, you know, if you're, if
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you're starting out in a little bit weaker, maybe lower end of average.
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No problem.
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It's called training.
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Um, and that's how you get that little Hummer up there.
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But I love the fact they use hand grip and I wanna see more and more
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and more of that in people's offices.
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You know, fitness professionals always use it, but in physical therapists.
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But I wanna see it in doctor's offices.
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Um, and it's a no brainer to do.
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And so, you know, I was happy about that.
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I was a happy person actually.
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Okay, so that's cool.
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Now, the, question then, you know, as we're kind of going through
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this whole thing is, um, what does this actually look like?
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So This is what, after reading your article, what I decided to do was to
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play around with something I love.
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I do the kettlebell deadlift.
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Um, I do a double hand on the 50 pound or more.
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And You know, most of the time I'm very pleased with lifting that little Hummer.
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Try it sometime.
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Um, You know, I'm a woman.
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okay, so, but what I decided to do was to check my power 'cause
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I was checking my strength.
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And so what I did was, um.
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On the up, you know, as you're lifting it up.
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I, I went fast.
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Okay, now I have very good form and excellent posture.
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As, as was you mentioned in the article, never ever attempt higher
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velocity until you have absolutely cemented form and posture.
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Because you know, you and I, George both believe in like no injuries here, but
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you can start kind of crawling up there with increased velocity, And so I did.
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I could do most of my reps, I can do in a sub two second So, It
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takes me less than two seconds and it's really interesting feeling.
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But boy is that a heart pounder.
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So here's my question to you.
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When people are doing high intensity interval training, which is what I was
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doing when I increased the velocity, and I was just like hammering that sucker.
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Okay, is that muscle power?
18:45
George Yusuff, MS: so I just like to touch upon the hand grip as well.
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Absolutely.
18:48
Love the hand grip.
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I perform, uh, um, initial intakes when people come in routinely
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throughout kind of, um, testing.
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Love the hand grip.
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Pam Peeke, MD: for you.
18:58
George Yusuff, MS: And people always stunned.
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I tell them, This is a whole body assessment of strength.
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And they tell me, no way.
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No way.
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I'm telling them, yes it is.
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And it's very important they see their scores and let's try and beat it.
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Let's train and let's beat it next time.
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And we retest.
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So hand grip, beautiful test.
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Love it.
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in terms of the movement, it's really about the quality of the movement.
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Like we said, we need good posture.
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We need.
19:19
Good range of motion, flexibility to be able to get into those positions.
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And I love you have great form, I'm sure of it.
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Um, we need to be able to have good form in order to do those movements correctly.
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If we haven't got a good base of strength, haven't got great posture, we're kind
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of not doing the movements very well.
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When we add that speed element, that's when we could be at-risk.
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And like we said here, no injuries.
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That'd be great.
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So once we're moving at that speed And we.
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Purposefully, that's what I like to add to it.
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Purposely moving with velocity through the concentric phase,
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like you said, the up motion.
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And we're adding that quality of movement.
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That's when we're trying our muscle power.
20:00
so when we think about rest time, I like to add that into it too.
20:04
So we're really looking at muscle power, so we're working the muscle.
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We need to have adequate rest to make sure we're ready to go again.
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Does.
20:13
We want to move high force quickly.
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If we haven't allowed adequate rest between sets, we're not gonna be able
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to have the quality of the repetition.
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We're not trained our muscle power as well.
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Pam Peeke, MD: So is that high intensity interval training?
20:28
George Yusuff, MS: Yes, I agree.
20:29
Mm-hmm.
20:29
Yes.
20:30
I
20:30
Pam Peeke, MD: So are, are, you saying then that high intensity
20:34
interval training is actually training you to have more muscle power?
20:40
George Yusuff, MS: yes.
20:41
High intensity training is including muscle power.
20:45
Um, you see a spike in the heart rate as well.
20:47
Even when we training those exercises, it's very important.
20:50
High intensity training is great.
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Pam Peeke, MD: I mean, I'm hitting VO two max on those suckers.
20:57
and, I actually, I also look at Mets, you know, the metabolic equivalents.
21:04
because, phew, I'm telling you, uh.
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It's exhausting and it's wonderful.
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It's, it's very aerobic.
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so, You know, so I played around with that.
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Now you got me hooked.
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so I'm like, You know, I can now do, let's see, a set of 20
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reps, 50 pounds in 38 seconds.
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So that's a thousand pounds accrued.
21:36
Okay, so I kind of gave myself a little high five, You
21:40
know, and I said, girl said, I'm gonna tell George about that one.
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Like, you know, we can do this.
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Um, but it's true for all high intensity interval training, so you don't know
21:53
it, but you're, You know, you're actually training for muscle power.
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So, although muscle power started to decline between
22:01
25 and 35, it started right?
22:04
How much of that stuff can you bring back with training?
22:08
George Yusuff, MS: Oh, it's absolutely recoverable.
22:10
So I know we've talked about this.
22:13
Always been kind of sad.
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Oh no, I've missed the boat.
22:17
Um, there's no missing the boat.
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I'd like personally, people should start when they're younger.
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I don't wanna say, forget about it while you're younger.
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They start a good base.
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I like to think of it as investment for later on, but there's no missing the boat.
22:29
Um, 12 weeks of training have shown dramatic improvements in muscle power.
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That's all it takes, and these aren't high complex movements.
22:38
Olympic lifts or anything like that, they're just purposeful up
22:41
motions of the concentric phase.
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And that can be as simple as starting with the glute bridge.
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I've never done power training before.
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I'm gonna start with the glute bridge, that concentric phase when
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we're going up in the glute bridge.
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If we do that velocity and we're trained over time, we will get more,
22:57
uh, improvements in muscle bowel.
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Pam Peeke, MD: Huh.
23:00
So I do a weighted glute bridge.
23:03
So I, I have a single arm dumbbell usually at 30 or 40 pounds on me, um, with a nice,
23:10
thick towel so I don't break my pelvis.
23:12
Um, and uh, so you're telling me that by doing it faster.
23:18
on the up, which is where I'm doing most of the work, will help.
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Okay, well that's, that's actually very cool then.
23:27
I'm liking that.
23:28
Alright.
23:29
Now you also mentioned, um, a little earlier, this whole
23:34
issue of muscular activation.
23:39
Now when we come back, I'm gonna ask you why that's so important
23:44
and what's up with Brain Health.
24:48
We're back.
24:49
Alright.
24:49
Now this whole issue of, um, neuromuscular activation And the brain And the
25:00
fact that when you do exercises that enhance muscle power, that you're
25:07
actually truly supporting brain health.
25:11
How's that work?
25:13
George Yusuff, MS: Absolutely.
25:14
Well, I like to think of it as minds and muscle.
25:17
So we're thinking of, we're thinking of a contraction.
25:20
We're sending an impulse, an electrical impulse through our
25:22
neurological system to the muscle.
25:25
at the muscle, there's calcium release in order to allow axin and myosin
25:30
to bind, to form the contraction.
25:32
But essentially the more we train that, the more efficient we make those
25:36
neurological pathways so that traveling through the neurons to the muscle
25:40
becomes more efficient, it's quicker.
25:42
That's what helps our rate of force development.
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So how quickly we can produce that force.
25:47
So train power is great because you get.
25:49
Kind of more bang for your, but almost you're getting the neurological
25:53
bonuses from the brain all the way down through the nervous system, And
25:57
also improving your muscle power.
25:59
Pam Peeke, MD: And it also triggers the release of calcium within muscle fibers.
26:04
Right?
26:05
So that's good.
26:06
Um, And that allows them to contract.
26:08
So the whole thing looks pretty cool.
26:11
Oh my god.
26:11
Gosh, I love this.
26:12
And you know, you also said power.
26:15
You know, muscle power training improves your ability to recruit more muscle
26:21
fibers, especially the fast twitch fibers.
26:26
Sometimes we call 'em type two fibers, but fast twitch fibers And that.
26:31
You know, makes it even better for boosting force production.
26:36
So that's cool.
26:37
So we're getting a little, You know, a little bonus brain action here too.
26:42
Now, now everyone is out there in the, in the Herb podcast land
26:47
saying, well, well wait a minute.
26:49
Now, how do you train for muscle power?
26:52
What do you do?
26:53
Um, in particular, what would you tell them to do?
26:58
George Yusuff, MS: Um, so there's lots and lots of different ways.
27:00
It really depends on where you're at with your training.
27:03
like the simplest example I can give.
27:05
Um, Bluebridge we're on the floor.
27:08
There's no risk of.
27:09
Um, falling injury, we're kind of down in that glute bridge We are raising or
27:15
hip thrusts, we're raising our hips, we're thrusting, but we're doing it
27:18
with, um, we're doing it with purpose and we're adding that velocity component.
27:23
Once we start to get comfortable there, we can add kind of in supplier metrics.
27:27
So even from the glute bridge.
27:29
Okay.
27:29
I've got really comfortable.
27:30
I've just started my strength drain and I'm doing my glute bridges really well.
27:34
I'm getting good.
27:36
Velocity on that up movement, the concentric phase of it.
27:39
So we can move, maybe move to add a little jump into there.
27:41
So we're lifting our feet off the ground while we're
27:44
raising our into our GL bridge.
27:46
So again, that added bonus of that tric kind of jump into there.
27:50
But to think about it, we're still lying on the floor.
27:53
I'm not gonna fall doing a glute bridge with a jump in my feet.
27:56
So I'm still being very safe and to make sure our form is
27:59
good And we can go all the way.
28:01
So really basic kind of tric training like that where we're focusing on the
28:05
velocity And we can go all the way And we can add jumps, we can add step ups.
28:10
I like step ups a lot as a.
28:12
Precursor to adding into jumps, And then we increase height.
28:15
And I really think it's a nice way to really start from the beginning to make
28:20
sure we've got it kind of mind to muscle.
28:22
We know what we're doing, we're getting into good form, And we can raise all
28:25
the way to where we're doing our jumps.
28:27
We're doing our lifts, we're doing our things with speed and velocity,
28:31
and we're really progressing the complication of the movements.
28:34
Pam Peeke, MD: I like building a nice, strong foundation in any of
28:39
these movements before you start.
28:41
Increasing velocity.
28:43
And as we said before, and I'm kind of repeating that to make sure that
28:47
people don't literally just jump into this, um, you need to have
28:52
you know, experience with this.
28:55
So going upstairs.
28:57
Going upstairs now we all know how to go upstairs if you don't, well, okay.
29:03
You know, get help.
29:04
Alright, so we know how to go upstairs.
29:07
What if you just sort of held onto the handrail, you know, a little lightly
29:11
And then just started picking up a tad bit of speed just a little bit.
29:16
And what I like is sort of crawling toward the goal, you know?
29:21
Um, instead of going from zero to, I'm going a million miles an hour now.
29:27
One of the things that was brought up is also another standard test for people's
29:33
longevity, and that's the sit to stand.
29:37
Tell us how you do that for power.
29:40
George Yusuff, MS: So the center stand, um, we're going from a chair
29:45
into a full standing position.
29:47
Um.
29:48
Without the use of the hands, so very, very common as well.
29:52
When we're thinking of activities of daily living from getting up to a chair,
29:55
people don't realize how much muscle power is actually included in our lives.
29:59
Like getting up from chair, walking up the stairs, like you
30:01
said, can we get up those stairs?
30:03
Muscle power is always involved.
30:04
The sit to stand has been very good.
30:06
Um, It's been very helpful with timing on the time to gather down And the reps.
30:11
So there'll be a certain amount of reps from sit to stand and we're
30:14
going up and down, up and down.
30:16
it's been very useful.
30:18
Pam Peeke, MD: You know the testing out there, there's two
30:21
sit to stand tests that I recall.
30:23
One.
30:24
One is, um, involves 11 seconds, I think, And then the other one is 30 seconds.
30:30
in each case it would seem to me that, um, getting up and sitting down,
30:37
getting up and sitting down, I mean, you wanna kind of like, you know.
30:41
Really, pick up the speed here and, you're, doing it fast for both movements.
30:48
Um, because you can't just doddle around if all you have is 11 seconds to be able
30:55
to, you know, get your point across.
30:58
With something like a sit to stand, the actual testing, um, the Muscle Power
31:07
Movement is actually both movements, standing up and getting down to your
31:12
chair just enough to be able to, you know, have your butt touch the floor, you
31:16
know, the chair, And then up you go again.
31:19
So it's like you never stop.
31:22
that right?
31:24
George Yusuff, MS: Concentric And the.
31:29
Sit to stand, similar to what we said about going up the stairs,
31:33
also going down the stairs.
31:34
We need eccentric strength as well.
31:36
Eccentric power, um, in activities.
31:38
The day living, it's good to be focusing on the concentric, um,
31:42
especially when we're starting off with muscle power, but really adding
31:45
that centric in component in there too.
31:48
It's very beneficial for all range.
31:50
So the full range of motion up and down.
31:53
Pam Peeke, MD: What can people do all day long just in their activities of daily
31:58
living, including walking the dog, right?
32:01
Whatever.
32:03
Where they can start training a little bit more into power.
32:08
So go through someone's day, like what could they do?
32:11
George Yusuff, MS: Yeah, absolutely.
32:13
I really like the stairs.
32:14
I think a lot of people, um, relate to stairs really well.
32:18
Just going up the stairs with purpose and focus on speed with
32:21
the addition of the handrails.
32:23
Um, I think it's very good for stability.
32:25
I remember.
32:26
Well, when I help train clients, um, I'll have a step and I'll have them next to
32:30
a rail just to kind of help with their step up in terms of climb the stairs.
32:34
Climb the stairs.
32:35
Very good one.
32:36
Um, groceries, um, kind of carrying groceries, lifting up
32:40
the groceries from the floor.
32:42
Um, it all comes back to muscle power.
32:44
I'm thinking about if I'm lifting my groceries from the floor, do I
32:47
want be down there for a very long time, struggling to get them up?
32:51
I wanna be efficient in that movement.
32:52
I wanna work on my power to be able to lift the groceries from the floor
32:56
and achieve my tasks of daily living.
32:58
More efficiency at the end of the day, lives to an
33:00
improvement and quality of life.
33:02
So I think that's the overall goal, not just longevity, but
33:05
the quality of that longevity.
33:07
Pam Peeke, MD: I have an interesting question for you.
33:10
Does strength predict power?
33:14
George Yusuff, MS: Great question, and a lot of people would also say they're the
33:18
same thing, which is very, very common.
33:22
It's not too common.
33:23
People hear strength, power.
33:24
Oh, it's the same thing.
33:25
Pam Peeke, MD: Oh, they say to themselves, I'm powerful.
33:28
George Yusuff, MS: Yeah, exactly.
33:29
Oh, I'm very strong.
33:30
Or I've got good hypertrophy.
33:32
My muscles are very big.
33:33
I must be strong.
33:33
I must be powerful.
33:35
It's not quite the same.
33:36
Um, they have some sort of relatability, but they're very different between them.
33:41
Somebody really does have the capability to be strong, to be able
33:44
to move a large amount of force, but not be powerful in a similar way.
33:48
In order to be powerful, you need a certain degree of strength.
33:52
Um, I like to think of.
33:54
Um, an athlete example.
33:56
So if I've got the ability to produce a thousand watts of force and I'm going up
34:02
against somebody that can only produce 900 watts of force, I'm stronger.
34:07
But if I'm going up in a dual or a battle and they can produce that 900 watts
34:12
in less than a second, and it takes me longer to produce that thousand watts.
34:17
They're gonna beat me in that jewel.
34:18
Exactly.
34:19
They're gonna beat me in that jewel in survival.
34:21
I'm gone.
34:22
So, it was, power is really good strength.
34:24
I think you is very important and you also need a basis, a
34:27
level of strength to be powerful.
34:30
But they're not quite the same thing.
34:31
They're almost like an alliance to each other, but different.
34:35
Pam Peeke, MD: So when people are first learning how to, you know, lift
34:39
weights, for instance, a lot of women, for instance, after the age of 50, never
34:45
really learned that in gym and whatever.
34:47
This is a generational gig.
34:49
Um,
34:51
when they're doing things like the, the classic moves in the gym, like a
34:57
biceps curl or a triceps pull down, or, you know, whatever you're doing,
35:03
should they already, you know, be thinking about the power part of this?
35:09
Or do you spend a certain amount of time building the strength?
35:16
First And then incorporating power.
35:22
And if that's true, should you be incorporating power for almost
35:30
any kind of weightlifting move?
35:33
George Yusuff, MS: Yes, I believe so.
35:34
I think we need a, foundation of strength.
35:38
And so as we're strength, I think it's also important to incorporate
35:41
the power train into that.
35:43
I think, um.
35:45
If we kind of look at a training session, we want to do the
35:49
power training typically first.
35:51
Um, maybe a set or two.
35:53
I don't think if we're initially starting out, we need to have
35:56
a full power day where we're looking at power, incorporating
35:59
as much power as we can in there.
36:01
It's fatiguing and it takes a long time, and it can also be a deterrent.
36:05
Um, it's not the easiest of motions to do it with velocity.
36:09
So as we're starting off, I like to think of just incorporating
36:12
it as start of the, um, workout.
36:14
We're purposely moving, so to your example, the bicep curls, we start with
36:19
a slightly lighter weight than we usually would, And we lifting them with a bit
36:23
more purpose, a bit more of velocity, And then we're done a little bit of that.
36:26
We can go into our regular strength training where we're looking a bit more
36:29
at, perhaps looking at some hypertrophy bonus or some strength training.
36:35
Pam Peeke, MD: Hmm.
36:35
Okay.
36:36
So you just, what we've done, whether people like it or not, is we've just
36:43
added like one more layer to our little workouts here so that you
36:49
know when you go into a gym, don't you see people just kind of like.
36:52
You know, very carefully and cautiously lifting and You know, now that's really
36:58
different than if you're doing more of a.
37:02
Uh, of, of picking up a really heavy weight And then doing something with it.
37:08
Um, I wouldn't expect you'd be doing power training with something like that.
37:12
This is a lower weight, um, with higher velocity on the up.
37:19
Um, and where you're actually doing the lifting And then, you
37:24
know, chilling out on the down.
37:26
Alright, so.
37:28
We have to keep this in mind and begin to incorporate this into our own workouts.
37:36
so that we do have that, that's why I started doing that, that
37:40
kettlebell deadlift crazy thing.
37:43
and, I love it, because.
37:48
It's a real different feeling than just kind of doing the usual, You know, lifting
37:54
like, okay, you know, we did our lifting.
37:56
This is more like, oh my god, my heart's pounding out of my damn chest.
38:03
Now in my case, You know, I, I'm a trained athlete, so you know.
38:08
Don't, don't try this at home.
38:09
But, You know, I, I use the same weight.
38:13
It's, it's still a very heavy weight, but I can do that, um, because I
38:17
have the form and all the rest of it.
38:20
Everyone else just, You know, always use a lower weight And
38:24
then just let that sucker rip.
38:27
so that means that if you're, if you're brisk walking, okay.
38:32
Does that qualify?
38:35
George Yusuff, MS: Yes, absolutely.
38:36
Brisk walking is a great way.
38:38
Um, one of the studies, uh, I think we referenced earlier as
38:41
well, Le looks at walking speed.
38:43
typically as you're getting older, we want to keep a good walking speed.
38:47
0.8,
38:48
um, meters per second is kind of the threshold for a
38:51
good walking speed, kind of.
38:53
We see people that walk slower than that.
38:55
Typically are more frail, so they haven't got that muscle power to be
38:58
able to walk at those higher speeds.
39:01
I think brisk walking and really putting into the movements, um, is very important.
39:07
Pam Peeke, MD: Well, that's a, that's another longevity metric that people
39:11
use and That is the gait, right?
39:14
George Yusuff, MS: Yes.
39:15
Pam Peeke, MD: what is that gait test?
39:18
George Yusuff, MS: The gate test.
39:19
Um, so when we're looking at individual's gates, um, we're
39:22
looking at how they're walking.
39:24
typically I like to do the gate test.
39:26
I like to kind of have a longer hallway and see how people are
39:29
walking, um, to give them enough space to kind of get into the motion.
39:33
Any changes in gate, any unnatural gates is kind of a.
39:38
not so promising predictor.
39:41
And you're also looking at the time that it takes them
39:43
to travel a certain distance.
39:45
Um, typically they look for four meters.
39:49
the time it gets to take four meters.
39:51
'cause you're looking at that power concept again.
39:52
Um, distance time.
39:54
So we're looking at that velocity of the movement.
39:56
Pam Peeke, MD: So you're looking at the form, the speed, You know,
40:00
their posture, just the whole thing.
40:03
Um, and see whether or not they can, You know, get through those
40:06
four meters pretty quickly.
40:08
Um, and that's the way, so everyone out there in the Herb Podcast land, one
40:13
of the things you need to understand.
40:15
Right is that there are lots and lots of different ways to be able to measure,
40:23
um, mortality, longevity, and really it, it gets down to what can that
40:30
gorgeous body of yours actually do.
40:33
And we're looking at cardiovascular fitness flexibility, posture.
40:38
Body composition.
40:40
Those are all incredibly important.
40:42
And This is a foundation of strength that we need solid foundation of
40:47
all those things I just mentioned.
40:50
But here's something else.
40:51
Also, what you wanna do is realize that if you wanted to save your own life, right?
40:59
I, was thinking, um, I've mentioned this, uh.
41:02
One example in the past on my podcast, and yes, I will repeat
41:06
it because I love this story.
41:08
So when I was at the National Institutes of Health, I was, uh, helping, uh, one
41:15
of the, top executives who had just retired was woman, um, in her mid sixties.
41:22
Who was not in the world's greatest shape, when she retired, wiping shock off face.
41:29
and of course she wanted to get herself in, good health, And so she did.
41:34
And I'm telling you, she was the best student.
41:38
Ever.
41:39
I mean, she just crushed it.
41:41
So This is at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
41:45
And there we have some beautiful homes.
41:48
There are older homes with gorgeous gardens, and she had a
41:51
magnificent rose garden that was up.
41:54
A number of steps, stone steps to get to the top.
41:58
And one day I got a wild and crazy phone call from her.
42:02
She was like yelling at the top of me.
42:04
I pick up the phone like, whoa, hello?
42:06
Um, someone's like yelling and, and she says, Dr.
42:09
Re out me.
42:10
I have to come in and I have to see you.
42:12
I said, um, I.
42:14
I have people with me right now.
42:15
She goes, I don't care.
42:17
You know, o okay.
42:19
Um, and she said, I have to tell you something.
42:22
So sure.
42:23
She came in and she was tracking mud from her rose garden And in her hands were,
42:29
um, just beautiful bouquet of roses.
42:32
I mean, it was like outstanding.
42:34
And, she says, here's the story.
42:36
She says, when I met you, I was really weak.
42:39
Physically, you know, I, and I couldn't believe it.
42:42
And then I lifted weights and, um, I kept doing my gardening, and
42:47
I'm getting stronger and stronger.
42:48
I've dropped a boatload of my own body fat.
42:51
It's, it's, bye-bye.
42:52
It's gone.
42:53
I'm feeling so much better.
42:55
More balanced, whatever.
42:57
And I was at the very top of the stairs, You know, pruning my roses
43:03
when about a 35 pound spider, You know, fell down, you know, right in
43:07
front of my face, um, on his little, You know, like steel, like tendril.
43:13
And, just shocked her, You know, I mean, she's used to the spiders and stuff, but
43:17
it was like, You know, it was like one inch from her eye and, and it just, whoa.
43:21
And what she would've normally done.
43:25
If she was not strong, and if she hadn't dropped that weight, she
43:30
hadn't, You know, practiced balancing, she would've fallen backwards.
43:34
Um, she fell backwards.
43:36
She could have died because those were stone steps.
43:39
And if her head clocked on one of those babies, you know.
43:43
We're done Instead, what she did was she had a nice, strong arm.
43:48
She was like, you know, and grabbed onto a branch, And then with the,
43:53
with her core strength engaged.
43:56
Twisted around and got herself upright And then she glanced down at the
44:03
bottom of the stairs and said, oh my God, that's where I would've ended up.
44:07
I am so strong.
44:09
And now here's what's interesting.
44:11
That was.
44:12
Pure muscle power.
44:14
'cause she had to go fast.
44:16
You know, we have the 35 pound spider one inch from your nose, right?
44:21
And she was grabbing, twisting, turning.
44:25
The whole thing happened in seconds.
44:27
And that's muscle power.
44:29
And that survival, what do you say?
44:33
George Yusuff, MS: Oh, it certainly is.
44:34
Uh, story really made my day.
44:36
Um, yeah, just the ability for her to forcefully contract quickly
44:41
in order to get outta the way La Spider instead of, like you
44:44
said, falling down the stairs and.
44:46
That could have been fatal and really her training And that end of,
44:51
um, end of the story, which ended up being very, very happy story
44:55
could have had a different ending.
44:57
Um, and that's why I think it's very critical just to improve and
45:01
to increase and to integrate some power training into your regimen.
45:07
Pam Peeke, MD: You know, as we're winding all of this up and we've
45:09
enlightened people, that strength with velocity is muscle power and muscle.
45:17
Power will save your life.
45:19
There's no question about it.
45:22
I, I can, I mean, I can count so many times just outside of
45:26
athletics, obviously, you know, athletics is a no brainer.
45:29
You're out there trying to survive, oh my God, you're on the cycle,
45:33
you're running, you're swimming, You know, the whole thing.
45:37
But just in, in, in simple life.
45:42
Think for a minute reflect on how many times your ability to pivot quickly.
45:50
Saved your life, um, or certainly saved you from injuring yourself badly.
45:58
You know, just reflect on that.
46:00
Most people never think about that, you know, until I knew about
46:04
muscle power, I, I rarely ever did.
46:07
I was just like, you know, I'm strong.
46:09
I could break someone's face, no problem.
46:11
But what about surviving?
46:15
You know, what about, you know, I remember at Dallas Airport, you know,
46:20
if most people know Dallas Airport.
46:22
Alright, that that baby right there is a marathon.
46:25
Okay.
46:25
I'm just saying so.
46:28
Go figure.
46:29
The luck that I ended up in, like gate A one and I had to get to like
46:33
gate A 32 and I had all of about like nine minutes 'cause it was
46:39
one of those horrible situations and I had my carry on behind me.
46:42
Thank God it was small, but it was still behind me and it was a pain in the ass.
46:46
I'm telling you right now, I have never run that fast.
46:51
Huh, I made it.
46:53
Um, it wasn't pretty.
46:54
I had sweat, you know, pouring off my face.
46:57
But, um, it's, it is wild times like that that just sort of, You know, um, it
47:04
made my life easier than having to wait around for two or three hours for another
47:08
flight or whatever the issue may be.
47:11
Muscle power shows up in your life all the time, and you don't even know it.
47:15
So as we bring this wonderful discussion to a close, and you've been fabulous,
47:22
what little motivational informational nugget can you share with women out
47:32
there who are saying, ha, sometimes I just feel like I'm in such rotten shape.
47:38
Is it even possible to, you know, affect my muscle power?
47:43
George Yusuff, MS: Oh, absolutely.
47:44
And I love that it really does turn up in every day.
47:47
Um, I like to think of it as well as, um, children, just the.
47:52
Reflective you'd do anything for your children and just having that ability
47:55
to maybe catch them from a fall or to catch them from something as well.
47:59
Um, I think it really resonates with a lot of people out there.
48:02
Um, the last thing I guess to take away for people is it's
48:07
never too, late to start.
48:09
Um, a lot of studies with the older population.
48:11
Um, they haven't really done a lot.
48:13
You can really improve muscle power within 12 weeks of training,
48:17
just consistent training.
48:18
Once you get in that mindset, the benefits will start flying.
48:23
It's not just the muscle power.
48:24
It's great.
48:24
It's just great for your mental health.
48:26
It's great for getting out there and seeing people And the engagement
48:30
factor, And it's just really just improve quality of life, just
48:33
in
48:33
Pam Peeke, MD: cognitive functioning And the, you know, the initial
48:38
point we made it, it, it's a great predictor of mortality.
48:44
so the better you are with your muscle power, I don't know, you're
48:49
making a big difference in how long you live and how well you live.
48:53
So how long is lifespan, how well you live is health span.
48:58
And there you have it.
48:59
George, you have been absolutely fantastic.
49:02
You know those people over there at the hospital for special surgery surgeries.
49:08
Um, are very, very lucky to have someone with your qualifications there.
49:13
Um, and I hope they know that because, you know, you have stellar background
49:19
and, I know that your patient's truly appreciate everything you're doing.
49:25
So I wanna thank you big time for being on the Herb Podcast.
49:30
George Yusuff, MS: Oh, thank you for having me.
49:31
It's been a delight.
49:33
Pam Peeke, MD: And everyone we've been talking to George Yusef, who is
49:37
an exercise physiologist certified by the American College of Sports
49:43
Medicine, our favorite place, right?
49:47
Absolutely.
49:49
I know they'll be happy to hear that.
49:51
That's for sure.
49:51
All my wonderful colleagues over there.
49:54
Alright, thank you George.
49:55
And I also wanna thank my sponsor.
49:57
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Scope 'em out at, so Soray, S-O-L-A-R-A-Y.
50:09
Com Now take a moment and leave us a review because we'd sit
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around waiting for those reviews.
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We just love those reviews.
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Um, and everyone out there, you should know that this bit of production of
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podcast health, and here's a little thought for you to end the day.
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Life is amazing.
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And then it's awful, And then it's amazing again.
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And in between the amazing and awful, it's ordinary and mundane and routine.
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Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during
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the ordinary that's just living.
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Heartbreaking, soul healing.
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Amazing, awful ordinary life.
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And it's breathtakingly beautiful.
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And that's from the award-winning, author of many parenting books, who I love.
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His name is LR Nost, K-N-O-S-T.
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I just love that.
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So everyone out there car a dm.
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Have a great one, and thanks for listening.