With spring fully underway, time is running out to get your beach bod ready for summer! Whether you're a regular worker-outer or a wait-'til-the-last-minute gym hitter-upper, physical fitness not only makes us look better, but becomes more essential to our bodies as we age.

It's Time to Pump... You Up!

From the old "Hans and Franz" sketches on SNL to President George H.W. Bush's appointment of Arnold Schwarzenegger as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 1990, the importance of building strength has been stressed everywhere from pop culture to politics.

Did you know that as we age, we naturally begin to experience a natural loss of muscle mass, called sarcopenia? According to Harvard Health, the process can begin as early as age 35, at a rate of 1-2% per year thereafter, and potentially increase to 3% after age 60. For adults who don't participate in regular strength training, that muscle loss can average 4-6 pounds every decade.

Weak muscles can affect our ability to walk and dress ourselves, and even hinder recovery from illness or injury. That's why it's crucial to maintain our muscle strength through proper exercise — something that's even more imperative to those who work in physically demanding jobs, such as roofing.

The ALP Takes On Working Out

Looking forward to National Fitness Month in May, we wanted to take a moment to flash back to a previous episode of The Asphalt Life Podcast, in which Stan Bastek, vice president of sales and marketing for Atlas Roofing, and Tiara Searcy, content and digital marketing manager for Atlas, chatted with Walter Romano and Jon Vitolo of RK General Contracting in Dover Plains, NY.

During the episode, Romano describes how a scaffolding accident left part of his face and tongue numb and caused six herniated discs in his back, which is why the guys make strength and conditioning training a priority by motivating each other to put in the work.

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