Recently on the social media platform LinkedIn I saw a post put up by someone who I believe was an orthopedic surgeon. He had on his post an image of a patient’s spine after they had had spinal fusion surgery. This is where rods and screws - and usually bone grafts - are implanted around two or more bones of the spine to reinforce that structure. It’s a risky procedure, despite many brilliant advances in the technology, and requires quite a significant rehab phase. The cervical and lumbar sections of the spine are common surgical sites, as these parts of the back are more vulnerable to injury - the lumbar spine being the main load-bearing structure of the back, and the cervical spine being the most mobile and least supported structure of that spinal column. Outcomes for this surgery are usually pretty good. More often than not patients will see reductions in pain, if at the sake of mobility. However, spinal fusion can increase the risk of pain from future osteoarthritis in the spine. The lack of mobility at the fused site can increase the stress put on other parts of the spine, thus accelerating osteoarthritis. And the site of the surgery itself can also degenerate over time, increasing the risk of further structural degeneration. Spinal fusion should always be thought of as a last resort - when pain becomes intolerable, and other options have been exhausted. So, the image was attached to a comment by the surgeon. To paraphrase, he stated that kettlebell exercises and weightlifting were BAD for the spine, and he advised any and all people he encountered to ONLY ENGAGE IN AEROBIC EXERCISE. He noted that the image shown in his post was from an older man who was swinging kettlebells for health and fitness, who had gone on to have a serious injury, thus requiring a major spinal fusion. Again. Weightlifting bad. Cardio good. End of story.

Further reading:

Fragala, M., et al. (2019) Resistance training for older adults: Position statement from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 33(8):p 2019-2052, August. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003230

Izquierdo, M., Merchant, R.A., Morley, J.E. et al. (2021) International exercise recommendations in older adults (ICFSR): Expert consensus guidelines. J Nutr Health Aging 25, 824–853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-021-1665-8

Rodrigues, F., Domingos, C., Monteiro, D., & Morouço, P. (2022). A review on aging, sarcopenia, falls, and resistance training in community-dwelling older adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 874. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020874

Episode 6 - The Clock is Ticking

Human psychology is a fascinating thing. The mind is the driver for all of our behaviour - it is our software driving our hardware. The mind gives us our sense of self, and allows us to utilise our intelligence. It projects our personality, and hides our self-perceived flaws. Our mind is sensitive to all manner of stimuli - physical, emotional, and environmental - and always refers to its memory bank stored within the many billions of neurons within the brain when executing behaviours, thoughts and feelings. It both helps and hinders us. It can be a driver of accomplishment, of ambition, or curiosity, but it can also sabotage us, it can be a prison that restricts us, that stunts us, that kills us.

When I am dealing with a new client, with someone who is new to exercise, I can usually tell within the first minute of an assessment whether or not that person is fully committed to the idea of exercise. Not because I have any special paranormal gift, not because I am especially gifted in reading body language. It’s because of one simple question - for most people it’s probably the hardest of all questions to answer, but the manner of their answer determines a lot: How much time are you prepared to give to exercise?

Email contact fitnessfunctionsmelb@gmail.com

Further reading:

Beresford, T.P. Psychological adaptive mechanisms: Ego defense recognition in practice and research. Oxford University Press USA. 2012. pp13-26.

Prochaska, J.O. The transtheoretical model of health behaviour change. American Journal of Health Promotion. 1997; 12 (1): 38-48. https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38

Weber, M.F., et al. Cancer incidence and cancer death in relation to tobacco smoking in a population-based Australian cohort study. International Journal of Cancer. 2021 Sept 1; 149 (5): 1076-1088. DOI: 10.1002/ijc.33685

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When we think about the way that exercise trains energy systems, we classify strength training as a form of anaerobic training, that is, utilising an energy system that does not require oxygen. The anaerobic pathway uses glucose to convert to energy. This process produces molecules that the cells within our body use as what I like to call ‘fast energy’, and is fundamental to all eukaryotic cells. Those molecules are ATP - that’s adenosine triphosphate, the power source of all biological energy - pyruvate and NADH - that’s nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide plus hydrogen. I won’t get too caught up in the molecular processes, it’s all a bit of a mouthful, but if you’d like to know more about this process, cellular respiration, the Krebs or citric acid cycle, and more, I’ll include some links in the show notes. For now, just remember that glycolysis - the AN-aerobic part of our energy system - works without oxygen. The oxidative, or aerobic, energy system - or, as I like to call it, the ‘slow energy’ system - uses oxygen to help us metabolise carbohydrates and fats for energy. This is useful for lower energy demands over longer periods of time. Think about weightlifting versus marathon running. Weightlifting requires enormous amounts of ATP to execute the movement of large loads in very short time scales. Marathon running requires ATP but in (relatively) lower amounts, over a much longer period. Weightlifting is anaerobic, distance running is aerobic. Everything needs ATP, but it’s all a question of time…

Contact me via this email: fitnessfunctionsmelb@gmail.com

Ludyga, S., et al. Acute effects of moderate aerobic exercise on specific aspects of executive function in different age and fitness groups: A meta-analysis. Psychophysiology. (24 August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12736

Alabduladhem, T.O., Bordoni, B. Physiology, Krebs Cycle. National Library of Medicine. (Updated 23/11/2023.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556032/

Smeitink, J., van den Heuvel, L. & DiMauro, S. The genetics and pathology of oxidative phosphorylation. Nat Rev Genet 2, 342–352 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35072063

Hood, D.A. Mechanisms of exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. (12 May 2009). https://doi.org/10.1139/H09-045

Poole, D.C., et al. The anaerobic threshold: 50+ years of controversy. The Journal of Physiology. Vol. 599, Issue 3. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP279963