I find more than 2 hours and 20 minutes of strength training in the danger zone… a bit hard to believe. One hour 3 times a week… an hour every other day seems reasonable.
The Metabolic Middle (30-60 minutes/week)
Strength training occupies the pyramid’s middle tier—far less time than walking but essential for maintaining muscle mass, bone density, and metabolic health. The dose-response curve is remarkably precise.
There are functional benefits to exercise in muscle, even when performed late in life, but the contributions of epigenetic factors to late-life exercise adaptation are poorly defined. Using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial-specific examination of methylation, targeted high-resolution methylation analysis, and DNAge™ epigenetic aging clock analysis with a translatable model of voluntary murine endurance/resistance exercise training (progressive weighted wheel running, PoWeR), we provide evidence that exercise may mitigate epigenetic aging in skeletal muscle. Late-life PoWeR from 22–24 months of age modestly but significantly attenuates an age-associated shift toward promoter hypermethylation. The epigenetic age of muscle from old mice that PoWeR-trained for eight weeks was approximately eight weeks younger than 24-month-old sedentary counterparts, which represents ~8% of the expected murine lifespan. These data provide a molecular basis for exercise as a therapy to attenuate skeletal muscle aging.
I can’t see why yoga was perceived to be useful for vascular or heart function anyway. Good for flexibility I’m sure. Maybe you can break a slight sweat holding certain positions. But it can’t be as beneficial as a cardio workout like walking on an incline treadmill or riding a bike.
To maximise gains you’d want to be hitting each body part with 20 sets or greater per week, and you’re taking sets pretty close to failure. It’s really hard work. When you do that, generally your protein requirements will be higher, but the training provides the single biggest stimulus.
