‘Lunch and Learn’ focuses on weight training
TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Maryville Community Center personal trainer Ryan Lessman addresses a crowd present for SSMHealth St. Francis Hospital’s “Lunch and Learn” program Friday. Lessman addressed the topic of weight training to a crowd of nearly 50 people gathered in the second floor conference room of the Maryville Community Center.
Weight training has numerous benefits, even in advanced ages.
Ryan Lessman, a personal trainer with the Maryville Community Center, served as the featured speaker at the January “Lunch and Learn” facilitated by SSMHealth St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. His seminar covered the various positive effects of weight training throughout life.
Lessman graduated from Northwest Missouri State University in 2010 and received his Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Missouri. He was named the Strongest Man in Missouri in 2014 by carrying a 1,000-pound car 100 feet in 13 seconds.
During his presentation, Lessman discussed the many positive effects people could gain from weight training at any point in their life. The benefits of strength training, according to Lessman, include burning calories, building muscle mass and bone health, and increasing bone density.
The major downfall, however, is injury. Lessman discussed the importance of handling free weights safely and knowing how to use the equipment.
During his presentation, Lessman also debunked several myths surrounding dieting and working out. These myths included keeping hydrated throughout a workout with Gatorade, favoring long workouts over intense workouts, and fad diets.
“Calorie-restrictive diets, for instance, shut down your metabolism because you don’t get enough nutrients by restricting calories,” Lessman said. “There are a lot of misconceptions about fad diets, and a lot of them can lead down a path of lesser health.”
One of the biggest detriments of a fad diet, Lessman said, is what happens after a person finishes the diet.
“When you go on a diet where you cut something out, the second you put that back into your system, you gain the weight back faster than you lost it,” Lessman said. “You have to look at it as a healthy lifestyle change.
“It’s all about changing the way you look at what food does and how it works.”
Strength training, according to Lessman, works as well as medicine does in decreasing arthritis pain, lowering blood pressure (even in those with hereditary blood pressure problems), decreasing the risk of osteoporosis, and controlling glucose in people with type-2 diabetes. It also works as an antidepressant and improves sleep.
One of the perks of weight training for Lessman personally is that it improves his mood by allowing him to vent.
“What I do, and what I encourage people to do, is I give them a med ball and tell them to throw it to the ground, then pick it up and throw it to the ground again,” Lessman said. “I tell them to imagine that the ball is whatever is making them mad or stressed and tell them to repeatedly throw it at the ground, because it won’t bounce back.
“You can get a similar result with a punching bag, boxing, or battle ropes. It’s a great way to relieve anger or stress, and you leave feeling so much better than when you came in.”
The seminar on weight training was different than the usual fare for the “Lunch and Learn” series, but SSMHealth St. Francis Hospital community resource nurse Jackie Ross said it all fit in with the overall goal of the program.
“Health has to do with complete wellness at every level,” Ross said. “The two biggest problems in Maryville are obesity and heart problems.
“SSMHealth St. Francis Hospital wants to reduce obesity and heart disease in the community, because that’s what the community says we need to do. If we can change one life, prevent one heart attack, lessen the impact of one stroke, then the result will be worth all the work we put in.”
The next Lunch and Learn seminar will take place Friday, Feb. 17 at the Maryville Community Center. The topic will be heart health.