It’s been another eventful week in the world of fitness, so here Muscle & Fitness shares what can be considered some of the most interesting and impactful stories in the world of strength, health and sports in recent days.
Bill Gillespie lifts his way to a new bench press world record
On January 22nd, Legendary Bill Gillespie weightlifter he broke the all-time world record in the bench press before triumphantly retiring from active competition. The astonishing lift took place during the 365Strong New Year Power Bash in Charlotte, North Carolina, and saw the super heavyweight heave an incredible 512.5kg/1,129.9lbs, breaking the previous record held by Tiny Meeker by 2.3kg .
Taking to Instagram to share video footage of his epic achievement, Gillespie commented: “1129 all time world record! Praise God for an incredible 50 year journey and all the great lessons I have learned about life and my relationship with God. Today is my last competition and in my last attempt I have been blessed with the honor of standing on top of the mountain. I want to thank so many people for their support and help because I know that things like this don’t just happen. I’m done competing now at 62 years old and I’m going to lose weight and use the journey I’ve been through to help enrich other people’s lives.”
Gillespie rides off into the sunset after a weightlifting career that spans five decades. M&F wishes you all the best in this exciting next chapter of your life.
Exercising for just 10 minutes more each day could save lives
Also this week, a large study was publishedsuggesting that 110,000 lives in the US could be prolonged if people between the ages of 40 and 85 exercised just a few minutes more each day.
“Our projections are based on an additional 10 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity,” said lead researcher Pedro Saint-Maurice of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. “If the walk is fast, it counts.”
For the study, researchers looked at more than 4,840 adults in the large 40- to 85-year-old age group between 2003 and 2006, finding in late 2015 that adding just 10 minutes of daily exercise reduced the participant’s risk of death by 7 percent. Those who did 20 minutes had their risk of death reduced by 13 percent, and 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous movement reduced that number by 17 percent. These findings were very similar across genders and races, meaning everyone can benefit from exercise. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stated that more than 60 percent of American adults do not accumulate adequate amounts of physical activity. All the more reason to keep up those fitness sessions!
Could urolithin A be the key to muscle health in older adults?
If you’re already making plans to add a little extra exercise per day to your daily routine, help may be available. A compound that is produced in the gut microbiome shows promising signs of being able to support muscle health in older adults.
Urolithin A, a metabolite that results from digesting polyphenols found in foods like nuts and berries, has been shown to increase the efficiency of the mitochondria in our cells. These findings, published last Thursday and which became a hot topic of discussion this week, are the result of a small clinical study that observed adults between 65 and 90 years of age. The experiment, conducted at the University of Washington Medical Center and the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle, saw subjects take either a placebo or 100 mg of urolithin A.
Key findings showed that those who supplemented with urolithin A were more likely to improve their skeletal muscle-specific endurance, in areas of the body such as the hands and legs, when taken long-term, over a period of two to four months. The compound was also found to be safe and well tolerated as a dietary supplement. The study authors acknowledge that more work is needed to determine the accuracy of their results and come up with a correct dose. They also need to test a larger proportion of the general public, as 76% of the participants in this study were women and all were white, but as data collection continues, the advantage of urolithin A could be huge, improving potentially and protect many of our functional muscles, such as the heart.
