This week, we’re diving deep into the foundation of strength training: the types of movements and consistent effort we all need to be doing regularly. 

The goal? To ensure we have the strength necessary to be healthy, active, and independent for decades to come.

To put this in perspective, here’s an excellent excerpt from the book Outlive by Peter Attia:

“Strength Training is a form of retirement savings. Just like we want to save up enough money to sustain us for the rest of our lives, we want to reach old age with a ‘reserve’ of muscle (and bone density) to protect us from injury and allow us to continue to pursue activities we enjoy. You must build this reserve gradually, as it takes time to grow — just like your retirement accounts.”

That quote perfectly captures the message we are trying to get across at Telos: 

Strength training compounds. 

Just like compound interest in your financial savings, the efforts you put into building and maintaining muscle and bone density today will pay dividends far into your future. 

We all need to lift heavy weights, and we need to be training with purpose on a consistent basis. The more “deposits” we make now in our physical “retirement account,” the better off we will be in our 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond.

This isn’t just about looking good (though that’s a nice bonus!). Our focus is on the fundamental movement patterns and exercises we need to prioritize in our strength training sessions. These are the ones we want to optimize NOW so we can continue to be strong, capable, and active as we age.

The good news for Telos members is this: the type of training we do at the gym already checks all these boxes. You’re already making incredible deposits into your “body retirement account” every time you show up consistently and follow the programming! 

For those of you new to Telos, or if you’re still figuring out your fitness path, this is your blueprint.

Your Body’s Retirement Account: The Compounding Effect of Strength

Let’s expand on this powerful analogy. When you save money for retirement, you’re not just putting cash aside; you’re leveraging compound interest, where your earnings start to earn their own returns. The earlier you start, the more significant the growth will be. Your body works in a remarkably similar way.

Building a Muscle Reserve (Combating Sarcopenia)

As we age, we naturally begin to lose muscle mass, a process called sarcopenia. This isn’t just about looking less “toned”; it impacts everything from our strength and balance to our metabolism and overall energy levels. 

By actively building and maintaining a “reserve” of muscle through strength training now, you’re creating a buffer against this natural decline. This means you’ll retain more functional strength as you get older, making daily tasks easier and maintaining your independence for far longer. 

Imagine effortlessly picking up your grandkids, carrying groceries, putting your suitcase in the overhead bin, or walking around all day long, touring a new city on vacation well into your later years. 

This is your muscle reserve at work.

Fortifying Your Bones against Osteoporosis

Strength training isn’t just for muscles; it’s incredibly powerful for your bones too. The stress placed on bones during exercises like squats, deadlifts, and even controlled lowering phases (eccentric loading) helps to stimulate bone density. 

This is crucial for maintaining bone strength and significantly reducing the risk of osteoporosis, a condition that makes bones brittle and prone to fractures. Stronger bones mean greater resilience and a reduced risk of debilitating injuries from falls as you age.

Boosting Metabolic Health & Fat Loss

Muscle is metabolically active tissue, meaning it burns more calories at rest than fat does. By building and maintaining lean muscle, you naturally increase your resting metabolism, making it easier to manage your weight and reduce body fat. 

This isn’t about becoming a bodybuilder; it’s about optimizing your body’s engine for sustained energy and a healthier body composition that supports long-term health.

Injury Prevention & Resilience

Think of your muscles and bones as your body’s armor. The stronger they are, the better they can protect your joints, ligaments, and tendons. This means greater resilience against everyday bumps and slips, as well as a reduced risk of chronic pain. Building strength proactively helps you move through life with confidence and fewer aches and pains.

Enhancing Cognitive Function

The benefits of gaining lean muscle aren’t just physical. Research increasingly suggests that regular physical activity, particularly strength training, has a positive impact on brain health. It can improve memory, focus, and overall cognitive function, contributing to a sharper mind as you age.

Structure Your Training: 5 Pillars for Lifelong Strength

To effectively build this invaluable “retirement account,” we need to incorporate exercises RIGHT NOW into our training that target fundamental human movements. That means even if you’re reading this at age 30, this is the time to get to work! 

These are the patterns that are most relevant to living a fulfilling, active life, and they also bring immediate benefits like increased muscle tone, fat loss, and improved physical and cognitive abilities.

Here are five key areas to focus on in your strength training:

Grip Strength

Why it’s essential: How hard can you grip your hands? Can you open that stubborn pickle jar with ease? While seemingly simple, grip strength is a surprisingly powerful indicator of overall health and functional longevity. 

More and more research has been done on the important role grip strength plays in longevity. Studies suggest that grip strength predicts how long you will live. A strong grip means you can confidently carry heavy grocery bags, maintain control during activities, and protect yourself from falls. It’s a key component of real-world strength.

Exercises to improve grip strength:

• Dead Hangs from a Bar: Simply hanging from a pull-up bar for as long as possible. This builds forearm and hand strength, and also decompresses the spine.
• Farmer’s Carry: Pick up a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand and simply walk. It’s fantastic for grip, core stability, and overall conditioning.
• Plate Pinches: Hold a bumper plate (or several) between your fingertips. This isolates the pinching strength of your hands and forearms.

Pulling Motions (The Key to a Stronger Back and Better Posture)

Why it’s essential: In our modern lives, we spend a lot of time hunched forward – at computers, driving, looking at phones. This often leads to rounded shoulders and weak back muscles, as well as soreness in the neck, shoulders, and back. 

Increasing your pulling strength from all angles (overhead, straight out in front of you) is the ideal way to address this. Pulling exercises directly increase back, shoulder, and core strength, significantly improving your posture and counteracting the effects of gravity and modern habits. 

Exercises to improve pulling strength:

• Rows (Banded, Dumbbell, or Kettlebell): These target your mid and upper back, building thickness and strength.
• Pull-ups / Chin-ups: The ultimate bodyweight pulling exercise, building incredible upper body and back strength. (Can be scaled with assistance bands).
• Ring or Rope Rows: Using rings or a TRX, these allow you to control the angle and difficulty, making them accessible to all levels.

Squats

Why it’s essential: Can you stand up from sitting with ease? The ability to squat deeply and powerfully is fundamental to daily life. A strong squat strengthens your quadriceps, glutes, and core, all of which are essential for everyday activities such as getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, bending down to pick something up, or playing on the floor with children. 

Neglecting your squatting pattern means losing independence and efficiency in basic movements over time. Building a strong squat now means maintaining fluid, pain-free movement for decades.

Exercises to improve squatting strength:

• Squats (Bodyweight, Kettlebell, or Barbell): Focus on depth, keeping your chest up and weight balanced.
• Step-ups: Using a box or bench, stepping up and down effectively strengthens each leg independently, improving balance.
• Wall Sits: An isometric exercise that builds endurance in your quads and core, perfect for building foundational strength.

Hip-Hinging Movements

Why it’s essential: The hip hinge is a movement pattern where you bend at your hips while keeping your back straight, rather than rounding your back. This movement targets your hamstrings, glutes, and calves (your entire posterior chain), as well as heavily engaging your core. 

Regular hip-hinging exercises help maintain proper posture, hip mobility, and flexibility. Mastering this movement allows you to bend over easily to pick up things off the floor, tie your shoes, or get in and out of a car without pain or restriction. It’s a key movement to protect your lower back and build powerful glutes.

Exercises to improve hip-hinging strength:

• Deadlifts (Kettlebell or Barbell): The ultimate hip hinge exercise, incredibly effective for building full-body strength and a powerful posterior chain.
• Kettlebell Swings: An explosive hip hinge movement that builds power, endurance, and core strength.
• Good Mornings or Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs): These focus specifically on the hamstring and glute stretch and engagement during the hip hinge.

Concentric and Eccentric Loading

Why it’s essential: For all movements, we must be able to lift weight up (concentric phase, muscles shortening) and put it back down slowly and under control (eccentric phase, muscles lengthening). 

Both concentric and eccentric loading are vital. Concentric builds power; eccentric builds resilience, muscle control, and significantly contributes to stimulating bone density. The stress placed on bones during these lowering motions helps to maintain bone strength and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. 

Often overlooked, controlling the “down” phase of a movement is where significant gains in both muscle and bone density can be made.

Exercises to incorporate concentric and eccentric loading: The beauty of concentric and eccentric training is that it can be incorporated into any exercise. 

Think tempo work. You can modify existing exercises to focus on the eccentric phase by performing slower, controlled lowering motions. For example, when doing squats, push-ups, or rows, actively focus on lowering yourself down for a count of 3-5 seconds before going back up. This simple adjustment dramatically increases the time under tension and the bone-building stimulus.

Doing exercises to improve strength in these five areas is setting yourself up to age well. And what is better than that?! It’s about choosing proactive wellness, not waiting for bad news, and committing right now to the strength, energy, and independence that lasts a lifetime.

The fantastic news for our Telos members is that the type of functional, purposeful training we do at the gym already systematically incorporates all these foundational movement patterns. 

Our programming is specifically designed to build strength in these key areas, ensuring you’re making consistent, powerful deposits into your “body retirement account” every single session. You don’t need to hunt for complicated, trendy exercises; you just need to show up consistently and follow the programming. We provide the plan, you provide the effort, and together, we build a stronger, healthier future. 🙂 Don’t wait until you need a “reserve” of muscle and bone to start building it. Start today. Every rep, every session, is an investment in a vibrant, active, and fulfilling future.