Ashley makes strong case for strength training for all

That’s what University Fellow Ashley Gluchowski told a packed room of colleagues who had signed up to her Small Changes, Big Impact session last week. Ashley’s studies draw on evidence that strength training has much wider impacts on our health than simply building muscle.

The university’s Wellbeing Team led by Lucy Heffron invited her to share her findings and try them out on colleagues here at Salford.

“Strength is the most important component of physical fitness,” argues Ashley. “The dangerous effects of sedentary behaviour go well beyond aches and pains from sitting all day, and negatively influence our metabolism, cardiovascular system, and our musculoskeletal health,” she explains.

So how can we incorporate strength training into our everyday lives, especially if we spend upwards of seven or eight hours a day at a desk? Ashley’s advice is to build strength breaks into our regular work routines.

“Try a ‘mini strength break’ at regular intervals through your day. When you boil the kettle or get up to stretch your legs. Set an alarm for every hour on your phone and try doing as many squats as you can for one minute, once an hour. Or try the ‘full strength break’ – 3 minutes of strength exercises four times a day. You will be amazed how much better you feel both immediately and by the end of the day.”

Interim Dean of Health and Society Vicky Halliwell opened the session. “Wellbeing for colleagues and students is a key priority in the University’s new strategy, and more broadly the university wants to innovate to enrich lives. It’s great to see such a strong turnout for Ashley’s event.”

Ashley is a University Fellow at Salford; a group of 21 early career academics delivering transformational research. The University Fellows are tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges through world-leading research and innovation - from climate change, healthy living and inequality to noise pollution and keeping our bees buzzing.

Read more about the University of Salford Fellows here:

21 ways our University Fellows are shaping the world | University of Salford