It's been another busy week in the fitness world so Muscle & Fitness is sharing what can be considered some of the hottest and most impactful stories in the world of strength, health and sport over the past few days.
Bill Gillespie is making his way to a new bench press world record
On January 22nd, legendary powerlifter Bill Gillespie broke the all-time world record in the bench press before triumphantly retiring from competition. The amazing lift took place during the 365 Strong New Year Power Bash in Charlotte, NC and saw the super heavyweight press an incredible 512.5 kg/ 1,129.9 lbs and the previous record of 2.3 kg held by Tiny Meeker , broke.
Gillespie took to Instagram to share footage of his epic performance and commented: "1129 All Time World Record! Praise God for an incredible 50 year journey and all the amazing lessons I've learned about life and my relationship with God. Today is my last competition and on my final attempt I was 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 things like this don't happen on their own. I'm now done competing at 62 and will lose weight and use the journey I've gone through to enrich other people's lives.
Gillespie rides into the sunset after a powerlifting career spanning five decades. M&F wishes him all the best for this next exciting chapter in his life.
Exercising just 10 minutes more each day could save lives
FrameStockFootage
Also this week, a major study was released suggesting that the lives of 110,000 people in the US could be lengthened if people between the ages of 40 and 85 exercised just a few more minutes each day.
"Our predictions are based on an additional 10 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity," commented lead researcher Pedro Saint-Maurice of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. "If the walk is brisk, it counts."
For the study, the researchers followed more than 4,840 adults in the broad age group of 40 to 85 year olds between 2003 and 2006 and found in late 2015 that adding just 10 minutes of exercise each day reduced the participants' risk of death by 7 percent. Those who exercised for 20 minutes saw their risk of death reduced by 13 percent, and 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise reduced that number by 17 percent. These results were broadly similar across gender and race, meaning everyone can benefit from exercise. the us Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 60 percent of American adults fail to get enough physical activity. Even more reason to stick with these fitness sessions!
Could Urolithin A hold the key to muscle health in aging adults?
Dmytro Zinkevych
If you're already planning to add a little more exercise to your daily routine, there may be help at hand. A compound produced in the gut microbiome is showing promising signs that it may support muscle health in aging adults.
Urolithin A, a metabolite that is the result of the digestion of polyphenols found in foods like nuts and berries, has been shown to increase the efficiency of our cell's mitochondria. These findings, which were released last Thursday and will become a hot topic of discussion this week, come from a small clinical study that followed adults between the ages of 65 and 90. The experiment, conducted at the University of Washington Medical Center and Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle, had subjects take either a placebo or 100 mg of urolithin A.
The key findings showed that those who supplemented with urolithin A were more likely to improve their skeletal muscle endurance in areas of the body like hands and legs when taken long-term for periods of two to four months. The compound has also proven to be safe and well tolerated as a dietary supplement. The study authors acknowledge that more work needs to be done to determine the accuracy of their results and to suggest a correct dosage. You also need to analyze a broader proportion of the general public, as 76 percent of the participants in this study were female and all white, but in the meantime, as data collection continues, the benefit of urolithin A could be huge and potentially improving and protecting many of our functioning muscles like the heart.
