Strength training does more than just build muscle—it also helps your body get rid of damaged cell parts, a process crucial for keeping tissues and organs healthy.
Recent research led by the University of Bonn has uncovered that strength training activates a key mechanism for clearing out cellular waste.
These findings could lead to new treatments for conditions like heart failure and nerve diseases and even have implications for space missions.
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, focuses on the role of a protein called BAG3 in muscle cells. BAG3 is vital for identifying and disposing of damaged components within cells.
It works by helping to form structures called autophagosomes, which act like garbage bags that collect and recycle cellular waste.
Professor Jörg Höhfeld from the University of Bonn’s Institute of Cell Biology led the research team.
They discovered that strength training activates BAG3 in muscles, which is crucial for maintaining healthy muscle tissue over time.
Without this activation, the body’s ability to clear out damaged cells diminishes, leading to issues like muscle weakness and heart failure, common in many people.
This discovery is particularly important for sports training and physical therapy. Professor Sebastian Gehlert from the University of Hildesheim, who was involved in the study, highlighted the significance of these findings.
“We now know what intensity level of strength training is needed to activate the BAG3 system. This knowledge can help us design better training programs for athletes and assist physical therapy patients in building muscle more effectively,” he explained.
The German Olympic team is already benefiting from these insights.
Interestingly, the BAG3 system isn’t just active in muscles. Mutations in BAG3 can lead to nerve diseases like Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, which causes nerve damage in the arms and legs, making it difficult to move hands or feet.
The research team found that faulty regulation of the BAG3 system in nerve cells is linked to this disease, emphasizing the system’s importance in preserving healthy tissues.
One surprising finding of the study was the way BAG3 is activated. Unlike many other cell proteins, which are activated by adding phosphate groups, BAG3 is activated by removing these groups.
This discovery shifts the focus to phosphatases, enzymes that remove phosphate groups, as potential targets for developing new therapies.
This research could also be important for space travel. Professor Höhfeld pointed out that in weightless environments, like those experienced by astronauts, the lack of mechanical force could lead to muscle atrophy.
His team is planning experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) to explore whether drugs that activate BAG3 could help prevent muscle loss in such conditions, potentially aiding future space missions to places like Mars.
Overall, this research opens the door to new treatments for muscle weakness, heart failure, nerve diseases, and even challenges faced during space travel, all by better understanding how strength training activates our body’s cellular clean-up system.
If you care about muscle, please read studies about factors that can cause muscle weakness in older people, and scientists find a way to reverse high blood sugar and muscle loss.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about an easy, cheap way to maintain muscles, and results showing these vegetables essential for your muscle strength.
Source: University of Bonn.
