John’s Resistance Training Class

What happens when you start Resistance training after 50
Week 1: Nothing visible, but your nervous system is already firing up more muscle fibres. The strength gain starts in the brain. Studies suggest the brain is powerful enough that simply visualizing a lift can increase muscle strength by over 13%. When you imagine performing a movement, the brain activates many of the same motor cortex areas used during the real lift, creating neural adaptations known as cortical synchronization. This strengthens communication between the brain and muscles, improving muscle activation, technique, and neuromuscular efficiency.
Week 2-3: You're noticeably steadier on stairs and rising from chairs. Balance improves before muscle size does.
Month 1: Muscle protein synthesis ramps up. At 60, 70, even 80, muscle still responds, slower than at 30, but it responds.
Month 2: Blood sugar improves, because muscle is the biggest place your body stores and burns glucose.
Month 3: Bone density starts responding to the resistance. The thing that prevents the fracture that ends independence as you age.
Month 6: You've added the muscle that keeps you out of a nursing home in your 80s. Falls become less likely and daily life gets easier.
Muscle is the organ of longevity, and it's the one thing nobody told your generation to protect. Two to three sessions a week with light weights and the body that was told to slow down starts getting stronger instead. It's never too late to start resistance training.
The research on resistance training is overwhelming add this to a good cardio exercise, like focus boxing and the benefits are endless.

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There has been a lot of information about Osteoporosis on various TV shows over the last few weeks. This may be due to our population getting older, but your bone density starts to decline at age 35 to 40. Resistance training (aka weight training) is a scientifically proven way to prevent this decline. This type of exercise helps “load” your bones, putting stress on them. Research has shown that this is what is needed to stimulate bone-forming cells (called osteoblasts) into action. Osteoblasts help lay down more bone tissue, which improves your bone density, making your bones stronger. Bones remodel following Wolff’s Law, which states that bones adapt according to the stresses placed upon them. But don’t forget to add Calcium, vitamin C and vitamin D in your diet. Back in the day we used to have a teaspoon of Cod liver oil to help our bones, its easier now with capsules, worth checking out the benefits. We are open public holidays… there’s no rest for the wicked.

We're all familiar with the concept of boxing. A contact sport that involves strategically punching an opponent. There is a form of boxing called Neuro-boxing which is helping patients with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases improve their brain health and live more productive lives. The CAT Focus boxing (very similar to neuro boxing) is a non-contact form of boxing designed to strengthen the body while physically and mentally helping the brain. It uses traditional core boxing moves to create a workout that focuses on strength, speed, agility, endurance, hand-eye coordination, and footwork. The quick, swift movements force participants to pay close attention, focus, and think fast.

Here is why you should be doing resistance training, especially if you are over 40.
Falls are one of the leading causes of injury-related death in older adults. And the ability to recover from a stumble, what researchers call reactive balance, depends almost entirely on the speed and strength of your muscular response. Muscles that have not been trained for power do not respond in time. The stumble becomes a fall. The fall becomes a fracture. The fracture becomes a cascade of complications that changes everything.
Resistance training is proven to build the fast-twitch muscle fibres responsible for this kind of reactive strength. It also maintains bone density, improves insulin sensitivity, supports brain health and extends metabolic function. Research shows that adults in their 80s and even 90s build meaningful muscle and strength from resistance training. The biology does not stop cooperating. We just stop asking it to. If you are over 40 and not doing some form of resistance training, the most important thing you can do this month is start. Not for how you look… For whether you can catch yourself when you stumble at 80.

I have clients that have been told they look younger; they are glowing and “your looking good” …the reason may be resistance training and aerobic (boxing) exercise.
Resistance training can significantly improve skin health, offering anti-aging benefits that can lead to firmer, more elastic, and younger-looking skin. Studies indicate that lifting weights increases dermal thickness and collagen, reduces inflammatory markers, and reverses cellular skin aging more effectively than aerobic exercise.
Key ways resistance training improves skin:
• Increased Dermal Thickness: Resistance training strengthens the underlying dermis, which can reduce sagging and wrinkles.
• Improved Elasticity: Both aerobic and resistance training improve skin elasticity.
• Reduced Inflammation: Lifting weights lowers circulating inflammatory factors that contribute to skin aging.
• Cellular Rejuvenation: Regular resistance exercise promotes the release of beneficial growth factors.
• Improved Circulation: Enhanced blood flow helps deliver nutrients and remove toxins, creating a "glowing" effect.
While both aerobic and resistance training are beneficial, resistance training was specifically shown in studies to improve skin rejuvenation by enhancing the skin's structural layer, whereas aerobic exercise had less impact on dermal thickness.

Pioneers of fitness;
Joseph Pilates (circa. 1910): created the method of “Contrology”, brain over muscle.
Francois Henri "Jack" LaLanne (circa. 1934): touting the benefits of fitness before any of the other fitness gurus.
James Alvin Roy (circa. 1946): resistance training and a disciple of free weights
Arnold Schwarzenegger (circa. 1962): considered one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.
Arthur Allen Jones (circa. 1969): Arthur Allen Jones was the founder of Nautilus
Charles Poliquin (circa. 1978): popularized the concept of tempo training.
Olivia Newton-John (circa. 1981): dance, sweat, and get… well, get physical.
Ken Hutchins (circa. 1986): super slow form of resistance training exercise.
Jane Fonda (circa. 1986): The fitness queen's Jane Fonda Workout videos
Mark Wahlberg (circa. 1993): relentless discipline, focused weight training, and recovery.
Billy Blanks (circa. 1995): Tae Bo workout creator (a combination of Tae Kwon Do and Boxing).
Richard Simmons (circa. 1996): fitness guru that helped America actually enjoy working out.
Beto Perez (circa 1998): The creator of “Zumba Fitness”.
Michael Phelps (circa. 2000): Olympian, spreading the importance of fitness throughout the world.
Eric Prydz (circa. 2004): Call on Me"… a song made for the gym goers, with s*x appeal.
Kirk Myers (circa. 2016): Dogpound Gym, old-school boxing method with a twist.
Cameron McEvoy (circa 2024): Olympian, he made people aged over 30 think about the benefits resistance strength training could have for them.
Dick van D**e (circa. 2025): inspiring the older generation to get to a gym.

Pillars of life
Pillar meaning; a supporting, integral, or upstanding member or part.
In mythology, a pillar is a bridge between heaven and earth.
Even in today’s life you hear people referred to as a pillar of strength or pillar of the community.
The Cat’s Pillars of life are simple everyday things;
Number one is strength: On average, adults who don't do strength training on a regular basis can lose 8 to 12 kilos of muscle per decade. This loss of muscle mass can then lead to falls and make everyday activities difficult or even impossible.
Number two is rest and recovery: Rest and recovery are not just “a nice break from your program”, but an essential part of your exercise regime that should be planned and deliberate.
Number three is nutrition: “We are what we eat.” Nutrition is the process of eating and absorbing food that your body needs for nourishment. It involves breaking down food into nutrients that our body needs. Micronutrients are essential vitamins and minerals required by the body in small amounts for various functions. Macronutrients are essential nutrients that your body needs in large amounts to function properly, they are carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Number four is connection: Being around good friends is essential to our happiness. It turns out that healthy relationships actually contribute to good physical health.

Are we as strong as our ancestors were? probably not. Researchers can get inferences from such things as bone robusticity and long bone cortical thickness which can be made as a representation of physical strength. For instance, bone shaft thickness since the 17th and 18th centuries have decreased in the United States, indicating a less physical lifestyle. Taking such factors into account, there has been a rapid decrease in overall robusticity, strength and stamina in those populations that take to sedentism, city or large town living. So, what does this mean, it means we must strengthen our muscles and exercise our whole life. As things get easier to do, with advances in technology, life gets harder. Sarcopenia starts at about 30 years of age and muscle atrophy can start anytime. No matter your age it is never too late to do such things as resistance training and light cardio, such as, walking, riding a bike, swimming and even boxing. It’s up to you, it’s your life and your body, only you can look after it.

What’s the difference between Boxercise, and boxing? Well to start with, the main difference is you do not need head gear, mouthguard, hand wraps or groin guards. That’s just the equipment part, the other thing is no one gets hurt, which is the best part. Boxercise is a (HIIT) program that incorporates high intensity boxing skills and techniques, cardio, and circuit training methods. In Boxercise sessions participants practice punching focus pads rather than sparring with opponents. It is a great starting program for beginner boxers, for people looking for something that offers the best of both worlds, cardio and resistance training. It’s known for reducing anxiety and stress, for the significant potential to burn a lot of calories and lose weight, to enhance your hand-eye coordination, to improve motor skills and reaction times and also boost agility, it targets not only your arms but your entire body. As in the UK and America, Boxercise is recommended by Parkinson’s Australia for; Improved motor function, Enhanced balance and stability, Increased cardiovascular fitness, Cognitive benefits and Social interaction
The best thing is its great for all ages, teens to nineties.