This has been a VERY informative thread, thank you. Particularly the video.
Muscle seems to be a very decisive topic on this forum, and I was going to start a new thread but this was already here. Anything that builds muscle would drive mTOR but I’m still confused of “strength training” versus “muscle building” if they both drive at the same rate. I imagine that if one took strength training without muscle building to an extreme that person would end up looking like Bruce Lee, versus muscle building without strength would look like Mr Universe. But the real powerlifters tend to have a “stocky” build — thick all over, but less definition (read: none). I’d guess that strength is what we really want as we age, but I don’t see how this works without some muscle mass being built, so I’m going in both directions simultaneously. I’m making the bet (read last paragraph below) that having a solid layer of muscle (and especially core) will allow you/me the highest quality life and feeling-good when “old”, and that muscle mass could provide biochemical benefits when older as well. That you might look fit/good is just an added bonus. I keep seeing studies that muscle building leads to higher mortality (especially from cardiac issues) and we all know the stats on older marathon runners who drop dead, but I can’t imagine that being in the top quartile of muscle mass (but maybe not the top 1%) would be a detriment for health and longevity — it makes no sense to me (although Einstein said this about quantum mechanics, so this isn’t really a useful argument). Muscle building with minimal dame to cardiovascular system and joints seems to be the goal.
I’m also making the assumption that “pulsing” different interventions is the best strategy: that I can move two steps forward and then one step back in multiple dimensions slowly over time and end up far better off than if I stuck to one intervention. It seems most are doing this with Rapamycin, taking once per week (or even once every two weeks) and then several months off after 6-9 months. I assume this could be done with muscle building and strength training as well to gain some benefits around Rapamycin dosage. And I, again, am making the bet that for longevity (and defiantly healthspan) having real muscle is a positive.
I am at the beginning of my “body building / weight lifting” journey having never really done it before (I was always a backpacker who could haul a pack for many days, but zero definition and nothing on my upper body). I’m not (yet) on Rapamycin and only taking GlyNAC (no effect), citrus bergamot (high LDL from low carb), and vitamin D; probably going to start beta-Alan one and creatine soon, but this is it this far (although seeing the potential benefits of possibly raising testosterone somehow, in part for leaning out and muscle building). At a young 52 (I feel terrific) I still do 60-100 flights of stairs 4x per week, and sometimes 120 (I can do the Grand Canyon rim to rim in two days), and have been working out fastidiously in the gym 4-5x per week for several years. But I must say the biggest gains I have made in actual muscle and stance have been since the beginning of 2023 when I started studying muscle/strength building and started (as a novice via the Internet) and started lifting heavy (for me) weight. I’m generally now deadlifting 1.5x body weight and squatting a bit more, and still progressing, but mix my workouts up so one day I’m doing several sets of 1 rep max lifting, and then two days later doing 5+ sets of 5-10 reps of 70% max, and then mixing in two days later of 4-5 sets of 80-ish% of max, and then back to the 70% etc. slow progression, but I’m trying not to hurt myself. Pull ups and chin ups coming along nicely (I don’t think I had ever done one, and now i can do ten but probably with terrible form). I’m progressing much slower in my chest presses so only 0.8 x body weight this far but increasing. My core has really shaped up with muscle all around it, and noticeable; same with arms, shoulders, etc. I stand slightly differently (“athletic” stance?) and am more stable. And things just don’t feel as heavy. Maybe these are all placebo effects but I hope not. I don’t have “definition” without flexing but I’ll work on that at some point (maybe fasting again). I feel great doing these “new” exercises, look “great” (not a toned body builder, but decent arms and chest so that people notice/mention it, trim waist, decent legs, and clothes fit very well). I am also seeing other physiological changes including increased vein volumes on my arms (all the way up) which assume is positively impacting other blood vessels. Also, possibly from the blood vessels, I see changes that others have attributed to being younger or having more testosterone (the morning wood — sorry for the overshare) which I haven’t had since my early twenties but is suddenly back (blood flow? Testosterone generated by muscle building? — I haven’t tested T so no idea which it is).
I notice my knees are seeing some impact (not pain, but I occasionally notice them a bit more where I never did before) which may be muscle soreness from exercising muscles I never knew existed (it goes away completely after a few days of recovery) or may be the beginnings of joint damage, and I’m hoping this may be rectified by stretching (hips especially) and working out my side hips more specifically to hold the weight better and have better form. I’m not (yet) on Rapamycin so I’m also hoping I may regain some ligament/healing capability at some point, and perhaps in the next 20 years there may be other treatments before replacement if I am healthy enough and with little progression to benefit from. My goal is to compete in Peter Attia’s “centenarian Olympics”, and my real goal (besides longevity and feeling great” is to be able to still backpack to some degree at 85. Longevity is great but only if I’m not in an iron lung.
I would mention that as someone who watched my father suffer from sarcopenia (now gone), I wouldn’t wish it on anyone: definitely lift weights, and even though make sure you can be mobile with strong legs as mentioned by several (@desertshores ?), don’t forget your core and shoulders: sitting up straight and being able to stand and support yourself as you stand in your “final decade” is not an academic exercise, and you will be miserable without this (minimal) strength.
I apologize for responding on an old thread, but since I didn’t join this forum at the beginning, in many cases when I want to bring up a topic it may have been broached in some form at an earlier time, and members have (generally) politely pointed this out — dammed if you do, etc.
Sorry for the long post, but I see muscle building (or strength, or whatever) as being one of the biggest healthspan and longevity interventions we can do.
