Dr. Bryce Lee is a former Surface Warfare Naval Officer turned Director of Therapy and Co-founder of StrengthSpace, a provider of resistance-based exercise and physical therapy services.
Bryce became a Body By Science and high-intensity strength training devotee and advocate following a string of acute and overuse training injuries he incurred during his time as a CrossFit, kettlebell, and powerlifting addict.
Bryce’s doctoral program focused on orthopedic conditions, chronic pain and how pain relates to mechanical disorders like tendonitis and osteoarthritis. Bryce decided that he wanted his patients not just making physical progress but mental as well, so he opened the StrengthSpace clinic.
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Important topics and moments from the Podcast
- 7:32 – How Physio Therapy has grown in scope of what you need to know
- 16:00 relationships and differences between strength training and physiotherapy
- 18:20 – Younger people don’t invest in fitness like an older high performer
- 20:40 Almost everyone with a sports background has major injuries
- 30:30 How to enjoy functional independence in your later years
- 31:45 Fast Twitch fibres – Emergency Muscles, never get used
- 35:11 What do your muscles really need?
- 37:18 – What is the “best” way to exercise muscle?
- 44:06 – What do you want to exercise for?
- 50:18 – Clinging to old ideas of exercise
What is the most important thing about strength training?
The most important aspect of strength training is not necessarily how much you lift, but how much strength are you gaining, and can you do it safely? While we glorify athletes and people doing feats of strength, what is not talked about is that almost every person with a sports background has serious injuries they are recovering from, or are just learning to live with.
Younger people don’t invest in fitness like older workers at the peak of their careers. A younger person wants to achieve results, an older person wants to simply be able to continue to perform for another few years.
In general, the younger you are the more likely you are to be naturally fit, and able to push your body to the extreme without seeing the impacts of those decisions and how they play out later in life.
Exercise is not about being as strong, fast or flexible as possible. Exercise should be focussed on developing good habits from a young age that will benefit you your whole life.
How to enjoy functional independence in your later years.
The way we age now is very different to how it was 20 years ago, or even 50 years ago. We are living longer than ever before , and able to do more tasks for ourselves.
Fast Twitch fibers – Emergency Muscles, never get used.
Fast twitch fibers are used for lifting heavy weights and short distances. They are not used often as they our emergency fibers for when we need to go somewhere fast.
These are the first muscles to atrophy in our sendentary lifestyles we live, so learning how to safely work those muscles is vital to maintaining strength.
What do you want to exercise for?
Understanding your short and long term goals for exercise is important. A short term goal might be: I want to be able to bench 400 pounds. But does that fit in with your long term goal of being able to be strong and functional when you're 80?
Clinging to old ideas of exercise
There are a lot of myths about exercise. Many of these are stuck in our heads because they were passed down to us by our parents, coaches, or trainers that have been doing it forever.
When you look for empiracle evidence to support these commonly held beliefs on exercise, sometimes you find the evidence isn't there. The best thing that you can do for yourself is find unbiased information from a variety of sources. And continually learn.
Dr Bryce is a wealth of information, and I'm sure this podcast will bring you many things to think about when it comes to living your best life.