Living life at 1 rep max

“This is a term that refers to someone who is living life in such a way that the demands of their everyday life activities are at or near their max capacity.”

What is 1 rep max living? This is a term that refers to someone who is living life in such a way that the demands of their everyday life activities are at or near their max capacity. At first, this does not seem like a big deal, but have you ever met someone who got so fatigued when they walked up the stairs they had to stop and catch their breath? Or avoided their child’s/grandchild’s event because they were afraid they would have to walk too far? Does carrying in the groceries or vacuuming the floor feel like a workout? These are all signs that you are starting to live too close to your “1RM”

How do you know? Mission is able to screen for this as well as provide a plan for how to improve it. Yes, you can improve this! Research shows that the stronger a person is, the less functional decline they see. It also proves that resistance exercise helps to counter age related chronic disease. So which would you choose – functional decline because you do not feel safe performing resistance exercise OR preventing that decline with resistance exercises which can be made even safer with the guidance of your trusted physical therapist. Yes, there is risk with loading, but what is the risk if you don’t? Brett Contreras PhD said it best, “If you think lifting is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak is dangerous.”

Try this at home:

Set the timer for 30 sec and find a chair. Start by sitting in the chair, and see how many times that you can fully stand up and sit down in that 30 sec without using your hands. 

If you cannot stand up from a chair without using your hands to push – you are classified as an automatic fall risk. 

If you are age 60-70 and cannot perform >12, then you are at higher risk

If you are age 70-80 and cannot perform >10, then you are at higher risk

If you are age 80-90 and cannot perform >9, then you are at higher risk

For more ways to assess your 1RM threshold, call 252-237-3004 or visit mptwilson.com and set up your free 1RM assessment!

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