Rena Malik, M.D. - Functional Fitness Tips for Better Sexual Health ft. Dr. Allan Bacon
The discussion emphasizes that improving sexual performance through fitness doesn't require specialized exercises but rather a comprehensive strength training program. Functional fitness is about building motor control and muscle strength, which can be achieved by practicing the activity (e.g., sex) and engaging in general strength training. The conversation highlights that many people misunderstand functional fitness, thinking it requires exercises that mimic specific activities, but in reality, standard strength exercises are more effective. Additionally, cardiovascular training is beneficial for overall health and can enhance sexual performance by improving endurance and blood flow. Mental training, which involves pushing through discomfort, is also crucial for maximizing workout benefits. The conversation also touches on the importance of understanding time under tension in resistance training, emphasizing that controlling the eccentric phase is beneficial but doesn't require excessively slow movements. Finally, it discusses the concept of non-responders in strength training and suggests increasing workout volume and ensuring proper nutrition and sleep to overcome this challenge.
Key Points:
- Functional fitness involves general strength training and practicing the activity itself, not specialized exercises.
- Cardiovascular training enhances endurance and blood flow, benefiting sexual performance.
- Mental training helps push through discomfort, crucial for workout benefits.
- Time under tension should focus on controlled eccentric movements, not excessively slow tempos.
- Non-responders to strength training should increase workout volume and ensure proper nutrition and sleep.
Details:
1. 💪 Functional Fitness for Better Sex
- The key to improving sexual performance through fitness lies in comprehensive strength training programs rather than specific mimicry exercises.
- Motor control is best developed by performing the actual activity (e.g., having sex), rather than unrelated exercises that attempt to simulate it.
- Building bigger and stronger muscles through traditional strength exercises is crucial for enhancing performance in various movements, including sexual activities.
- Focus on developing the musculature involved in the desired activity rather than exercises that superficially resemble the activity.
- Common strength training exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses provide the most benefit for functional fitness and, by extension, sexual health.
- Marketers often misuse the term 'functional fitness' to promote niche exercises. However, foundational strength exercises remain the most effective.
2. 🏃♂️ The Role of Cardiovascular Training
2.1. 🏃♂️ The Role of Cardiovascular Training
2.2. Benefits of Cardiovascular Training
2.3. Integrating Cardiovascular Training into Daily Life
3. 🧠 Mental Training and Overcoming Challenges
- Mental training is highly personalized and involves engaging in challenging activities that push individuals beyond their comfort zones, promoting personal growth and resilience.
- Ice bathing is discussed as a mental training practice; while its recovery benefits are debated, it serves as a discipline-building exercise.
- The philosophy of 'the obstacle is the way' is central to mental training, emphasizing the value in overcoming challenges rather than the challenge itself.
- Physical activities like resistance training are enhanced by mental resilience, requiring athletes to push to near muscular failure to achieve effectiveness.
- Studies indicate that beginners often underestimate their proximity to muscle failure during resistance training, suggesting a need for increased effort and awareness.
- Additional mental training practices include mindfulness meditation and visualization techniques, which help improve focus and stress management.
4. 🔥 Pushing Limits in Resistance Training
4.1. Beginner Strategies in Resistance Training
4.2. Advanced Training Techniques
5. ⏲️ Understanding Time Under Tension
- Discomfort during exercise isn't negative; it's a sign of pushing boundaries, but differentiate between healthy discomfort and pain.
- Time under tension is often misunderstood; it should not be confused with tempo (e.g., concentric, eccentric phases).
- Eccentric contraction is valuable, and controlled eccentric movements (1-2 seconds) are optimal for muscle growth.
- Research indicates that rep tempos from 2 to 8 seconds are equally effective for building lean muscle.
- Tempo longer than 10 seconds is less effective for hypertrophy due to increased fatigue and reduced quality of subsequent sets.
- Soreness is not an indicator of muscle growth; excessive eccentric length may lead to unnecessary soreness without added benefits.
- German volume training and excessive exercise volume can be counterproductive, increasing cortisol levels without additional gains.
- Efficient training involves optimal volumes and intensities, avoiding unnecessary prolonged sessions.
- Cortisol, when induced by exercise, can aid in lean muscle building, countering the notion of it being purely negative.
6. 🧬 The Non-Responders in Muscle Building
- 25% of individuals do not see improvement in muscle mass despite following standard strength programs, indicating a significant portion of the population that could be categorized as non-responders.
- The distribution of muscle growth response to strength training is such that 50% experience normal growth, 25% experience rapid growth, and another 25% experience minimal growth, highlighting the variability in individual responses.
- While non-responders see considerably lower increases in lean muscle mass, they still benefit from strength gains, suggesting that muscle hypertrophy is not the sole indicator of training success.
- Non-responsiveness may be body-part specific, meaning some areas may respond better than others, which requires targeted training approaches.
- Factors such as inadequate exercise focus, poor nutrition, and insufficient sleep can mask true non-responsiveness, underscoring the importance of addressing these areas to accurately assess and potentially improve training outcomes.
- To address non-responsiveness, individuals should consider personalized training regimens that include varied exercises, proper nutrition plans, and optimized recovery strategies to potentially enhance muscle growth.