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This surprises me a bit, because I attended a lecture at Karolinska Instituted by Jorge Ruas in 2017 about a series of papers produced by his research group whe

This surprises me a bit, because I attended a lecture at Karolinska Instituted by Jorge Ruas in 2017 about a series of papers produced by his research group where they actually seem to have figured out why developing more red muscle - which is the endurance muscle, not the kind you produce with weight-lifting - protects against depression. In short, red muscle it produces KAT enzymes that break down kynurenine, which is a substance produced by stress that is associated with all kinds of mental illnesses, like inducing depression, if it remains at elevated levels for longer periods of time. So it protects you from depression by removing one of the substances that causes it. IIRC, kynurenine is then turned into kynurenic acid, which then activates white fat and turns it into "beige fat", a kind of almost-brown fat (so the healthier kind). So it has even more benefits! I asked during the Q&A if they recommend endurance exercise, or weightlifting, and they said that in their tests, it was specifically the muscles that you develop during endurance training that produce this protective enzyme. [0] https://ki.se/en/news/how-physical-exercise-protects-the-brain-from-stress-induced-depression https://ki.se/en/news/how-physical-exercise-protects-the-bra...

goldenkey 8y ago
It's a common myth that weightlifting only improves strength, not endurance. It is impossible to have strength and lack endurance. The myth comes from the unintuitive disconnect between muscular people and their actual weight - they clearly have to expend more energy to move larger, heavier body parts. So it may seem like their endurance is impaired but it isn't the case. Tell me this power-squatting cyclist lacks endurance: https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ
- vanderZwan 8y ago
  > It's a common myth that weightlifting only improves strength, not endurance. It is impossible to have strength and lack endurance. You're right of course. What I meant was that I presume it doesn't build red muscle as quickly as other sports. What we need is a comparison of, say, running, cycling, and weightlifting to see if there is a difference in effectiveness. Because if weightlifting works just as well, there might be other factors at play that are worth investigating.

goldenkey 8y ago

It's a common myth that weightlifting only improves strength, not endurance. It is impossible to have strength and lack endurance. The myth comes from the unintuitive disconnect between muscular people and their actual weight - they clearly have to expend more energy to move larger, heavier body parts. So it may seem like their endurance is impaired but it isn't the case. Tell me this power-squatting cyclist lacks endurance: https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ

vanderZwan 8y ago
> It's a common myth that weightlifting only improves strength, not endurance. It is impossible to have strength and lack endurance. You're right of course. What I meant was that I presume it doesn't build red muscle as quickly as other sports. What we need is a comparison of, say, running, cycling, and weightlifting to see if there is a difference in effectiveness. Because if weightlifting works just as well, there might be other factors at play that are worth investigating.