health-related reasons to get jacked and leanÂ
I was bored at this symposium today and some of the presentations got me to thinking about this topic. Â no, I’m not talking about well-known reasons like lowering your LDL’s and increasing your HDL’s to stave off heart disease.
I’m talking about:
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improved vascularity. Â many times I’ve had to start IV’s on patients that are either so fat that their veins are invisible, or so cachectic that their veins roll because there is no surrounding fat or muscle to anchor them. Â that means I’m starting IV’s blind. Â it’s as painful as it sounds, and that’s only with a 16 gauge needle at worst. Â the needles used for central lines are MUCH bigger.
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improved healing related to improved vascularity and accelerated metabolism. Â the longer you stay in the hospital, the more you expose yourself to wee beasties like E.coli, various Psuedomonae, MRSA, hep C and HIV. Â if you’re ever admitted as an inpatient, it would behoove you to gtfo asap before you catch something.Â
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increased activity tolerance. Â this helps get you out faster post-op, and the sooner you’re out, the better. Â it helps you withstand a heart rate of 160bpm or higher sustained over several hours while the docs wait for your heart to respond to medications. Â if you weren’t in shape, you might arrest at hour 3 instead of making it to the end of that amiodarone load at hour 16 and converting to sinus rhythm.
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improved skeletal integrity. Â some studies have shown bones in lifters are denser than the rest of the general population. Â this becomes important after you’ve had your chest cracked open from heart surgery and six stainless steel wires are the only things holding your rib cage closed. Â I’ve seen obese patients with diabetes rip their wires clean through the sternum because they’re fat, heavy, and have poor healing and brittle bones.
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improved muscle activation and strength. Â this means all those squats you did can help you stand up from a sitting position without using your arms, the excessive use of which would stress your chest, which would lead to wire rippage as mentioned above.
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you know how to force-feed. Â surgery is injurious to the body and you need calories in order to heal. Â however, chances are you won’t be hungry post-op for a week or so because the GI system is the last system to return to normal. Â good thing you know how to eat even when you aren’t hungry.
that’s all I could think of off the top of my head. Â hopefully more come to mind after the lunch break so I can stay awake…