It has to do with the duration of time spent being sedentary.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but luckily enough today you get both.
Sarcopenia: “poverty of flesh,” or the age-induced loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function = reduced quality of life. Sorry old-timers, but I hereby officially revise the definition from “aging-induced” to “sedentary-induced.” Herein, I present evidence that sarcopenia is not a phenomenon of aging per se, but rather of disuse atrophy. Dear Webster’s & Britannica, please revise accordingly.
Skeletal muscles: use ‘em or lose ‘em #TPMC
Thanks to Julianne Taylor & Skyler Tanner for directing me to these images.
divide and conquer
Exhibit A. Chronic exercise preserves lean muscle mass in masters athletes (Wroblewski et al., 2011)
This study evaluated “high-level recreational athletes.” “Masters” just means they were over 40. And “high-level” doesn’t mean “elite,” it just means they exercised 4-5 times per week. These weren’t super-obsessed gym rats… it’s probably who I’ll be in 7 years [sigh].
makes some of the strongest athletes in the world because unlike most other training regimes, they are constantly lifting very heavy weight. Other protocols restrict heavy lifting to certain times of the year, in-season / off-season, etc. At Westside, you’re going heavy on an exercise that changes very frequently (every 1 – 3 weeks). And it’s this latter point that provides the basis for why other people think Westside works. By constantly changing which exercise is lifted at maximal intensity, the body never fully adapts, or gets into a rut – this is part of Westside’s ‘Conjugate Method.’
, as per their 
theory: small doses of individual exercises, eg, conventional deadlifts one week, good mornings the next, sumo deads the next week, and so on and so forth – will improve your squats; the body never knows what’s coming (even though you might have planned it weeks in advance, or at least planned to check 
, wherein being prepared for “random” shocks seem to benefit the system as a whole, or make it stronger. Sedentary makes you fragile, weak, and soft; exercise makes you robust; Westside is Antifragile.
), Kate Harrison (
), Michael Mosley (
), Bert Herring (
), John Daugirdas (
), and Martin Berkhan (
). Chances are you’re probably unwittingly already doing one of them, at least intermittently. The theoretical benefits are seemingly endless (albeit via few human trials), beyond the scope of my brain.
, 
Evans, Gervino, and 
.
