When power tripping is a good thing

Did you know strength isn't the only thing to think about? It turns out active agers should think about another component of fitness: power.

Where strength is the ability to move objects and your body over a distance, power is the ability to do it quickly, e.g., standing up from a chair, going up stairs. People typically handle less weight for power than for strength.

Sarcopenia sets in as we get older. We start to lose muscle mass, which affects strength and power.

• The shocking statistic is we can lose up to 40% of our muscle mass with 30% happening between the ages of 50 and 80 years.
• Total strength, therefore, goes down as well.
• Power is important for doing our daily activities.
• Additionally, the older we get, the greater our risk of falling becomes. That risk goes down the stronger we are, especially as we're able to generate more power.
• The linked study in this paragraph suggested that stronger and more powerful people are less likely to fall, especially when that strength and power is in the lower body.
• Focused exercise in the study appeared to turn back the clock up to 20 years, making the participants stronger and more powerful.

A manual from Harvard Medical School tells us we can gain back that strength and power with exercise.

• Exercise tends to restore the neural pathways needed to activate the fast twitch muscles.
• Increased muscle mass also makes the body more efficient at processing sugar, oxygen, and other nutrients in the blood.

Since power is the product of force (how much) and velocity (how fast), we have to improve either one or both to gain power.

• This linked study came to an interesting conclusion: it's more important for older people to generate power (move lighter loads quickly) than to display strength (move a heavy weight).
• Examples of generating power included getting across the street quickly, getting one's arms in front to break a fall (martial arts version linked), or moving one's foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal.

To remedy this, weightlifting is the first thought that comes to mind. However, what role can Nordic walking play?

• The first thought is to walk uphill as fast as you can. Fighting gravity in a speed drill is one way to improve lower body power.
• You can also skip. These explosive moves help develop power, especially when you thrust your lead knee higher.
• Bounding may take a bit more to learn than skipping, but it generates quite a bit of power because you're essentially doing a series of long jumps.