Have you ever considered your strength and its effects on the people around you, especially your loved ones? At Hygieia, many conversations between the coaches and members often focus on being stronger for yourself, and optimising life factors to achieve personal records under the bar. Yet, every so often, a thoughtful lifter looks beyond the gym and wonders how the same training process could potentially improve his ageing parents’ lives.

I’d like to share the experiences of two people who are close to my heart and how strength played a key factor in their state of health: my friend, Marco* the pilot (*not his real name), and my mother, Mooilin.

Marco the Pilot

I met Marco in 2020, right when Covid restrictions for dining out had been lifted. A seasoned captain of the skies, nearly fifty of age, always partying – albeit sometimes too excessively even during the restrictions – and never without a gym bag. One look at him, and you could easily tell that he lifts heavy, regardless of what dumbbell/smith machine gym-bro program he may be following. He’d often say something like “I lift heavy and train hard so I can do more silly things on top of my crazy life”. Clearly, he understood the value of being strong enough in order to live his life to the fullest – he’s been in the gym for more years than I have spent in school!

Recently, I received some devastating news about him through mutual friends – Marco had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. The diagnosis came on New Year’s Eve. We paid him a visit one afternoon, a few days after his second surgery to remove most of the operable tumours.

“Amor, I will die from this cancer, yes or yes. If it doesn’t kill me this time, it will kill me next time. But trust me, I will fight it.” Marco said as he settled into his new leather recliner, which I assume his wife bought in preparation for his recovery.

He briefly touched on his diagnosis, not diving into many details, as he preferred to talk about anything other than the cancer. Here’s what he shared: there are multiple malignant and benign cancerous masses around various sites in his lower abdomen, and he would need a plethora of back-to-back surgeries and treatments over the next few months. The doctor said that for an average person of his age and body weight, this diagnosis would be a death sentence. They would have 3 to 6 months left, with less than 5% chance of survival. But Marco is no average person – the physiological reserve he has easily boosts his chances of survival up to 30%, serving as an advantage in surviving the harsh chemotherapy sessions. If the treatments succeed, he could still be alive within the next three years, and hopefully even more.

Marco is positive he will survive, surpassing the doctor’s grim prognosis, because of the immense trust he places in the strength and resilience he brought with him to battle this cancer. As a friend, these words offer comfort to a worried heart, reassuring me that he is more well equipped than most to face the difficult journey ahead of him.

My mother, Mooilin

When my grandmother was in the final years of her life, my mother was one of her caretakers – a role that is by no means an easy feat. At sixty-six, the physical demands of carrying her between bed, wheelchair, and bathroom were taking a serious toll on her joints. Shortly after my grandmother’s funeral, the accumulated stress had strained her knee so badly that she feared a wheelchair-bound life was inevitable.

After years of working hard and saving up for retirement, my mother’s initial plan was to travel around China before any amount of physical independence could escape her. However, being a burnt out caretaker sporting a wonky knee had seriously derailed her plans. I knew that strength training would help, and after a few months of convincing, she finally agreed to come to the gym. Even then, it took her another six months to truly embrace the benefits of strength training.

Today at 70 years young, she has since taken two long trips overseas and is planning another extensive holiday in China this March. My silver-haired mother now proudly tells me how she can easily climb up and down the stairs of a double-decker bus without a worry. One day, she mentioned she’d fallen at home, and got away with nothing but a colourful bruise on her thigh (which, let’s be honest, is a far better outcome than a potential hip fracture).

She is now my poster girl for “If my mom can do it, so can yours”.  Knowing she’s training hard to enjoy her later decades reassures me immensely as her daughter. It gives me confidence that a wheelchair-bound life will not be anywhere on her bingo cards as long as she stays strong.

Strength and Mortality

Most people think of cancer patients and elderly folks as fragile beings, needing to be wheeled everywhere, bed-bound for recovery, and unable to do anything requiring physical effort. If this is the case for anyone who’s accumulated chronic health issues due to a completely avoidable sedentary lifestyle, can you imagine the added stress it places on their loved ones?

This is why I thank my lucky stars that my loved ones, like Marco and my mother, have put in the work to build strength – so their families can celebrate more time with them. While training is no cure for cancer, nor does it grant immortality, it is clear from their experiences that a greater physiological reserve can be a lifesaver as we age, or when handed an early eviction notice from Earth.

While being stronger benefits all athletic attributes, its impact goes far beyond. Strength training enhances many aspects of life that grant you independence and freedom to live better. More studies stating the link between strength and longevity have been getting more attention over the recent years. Increasing your physiological bank can have a positive impact on:

1. Improving overall metabolic health, therefore lowering risk of all-cause mortality, including obesity, heart disease, and Type II diabetes

2. Improving strength-based and cognitive functions

3. Enhancing bone density and increasing lean muscle mass, staving off osteopenia and sarcopenia

4. Reducing risk of dementia

…which ultimately gives you a better chance at enjoying the precious time you have.

Final Thoughts

Strength is the most valuable metric across all ages and human conditions, reflecting your physical capacity for survival. The stronger you are, the better equipped you are to stave off death, buying you more quality time with your families and friends. I’d like to end with one of my favourite passages, written by the ever-poetic and wise Jonathon Sullivan MD, PhD, SSC, and author of The Barbell Prescription:

“Instead of slowly getting weaker and sicker and circling the drain in a protracted, painful descent that can take hellish years or even decades, we can squeeze our dying into a tiny sliver of our life cycle. Instead of slowly dwindling into an atrophic puddle of sick fat, our death can be like a failed last rep at the end of a final set of heavy squats. We can remain strong and vital well into our last years, before succumbing rapidly to whatever kills us. Strong to the end.”

References:

García-Hermoso, A., Cavero-Redondo, I., Ramírez-Vélez, R., Ruiz, J. R., Ortega, F. B., Lee, D.-C., & Martínez-Vizcaíno, V. (2018). Muscular strength as a predictor of all-cause mortality in an apparently healthy population: A systematic review and meta-analysis of data from approximately 2 million men and women. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 99(10), 2100-2113.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2018.01.008

Strasser, B., & Pesta, D. (2013). Resistance training for diabetes prevention and therapy: Experimental findings and molecular mechanisms. Biomed Research International, 2013, 805217. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/805217

Chen, N., He, X., Feng, Y., Ainsworth, B. E., & Liu, Y. (2021). Effects of resistance training in healthy older people with sarcopenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, 18(23). https://doi.org/10.1186/s11556-021-00277-7 Starting Strength. (n.d.). Barbell training is big medicine. Starting Strength. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://startingstrength.com/article/barbell_training_is_big_medicine