Over 65? Here's Why You Need Strength Training!
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A strength training program can help Seniors to stave off many of the effects of aging and remain healthy & active. Strength Training offers many benefits to Seniors including…
Combatting Age-Related Muscle Loss: Beginning at age 30, we lose muscle mass at a rate of around 3-5% each decade. In some people this muscle loss accelerates as they get older. This is known as sarcopenia.
Studies have show that strength training 2-3 times a week can slow and reverse age-related muscle loss.
Lower Body Fat: Adding muscle through strength training also increases your metabolism. With added muscle, your body burns more fat even when you’re at res
Improved Cognitive Function: Studies by Australian and South Korean researchers looked at the effect of weight training on seniors who were starting to suffer mild cognitive impairment. In both studies, seniors who participated in a regular strength training program showed significant improvements on a cognitive ability test than those who didn’t do strength training.
Improved Bone Hearth: At age 40, we start to lose bone mass at the rate of about 1% per year. This decline means that for most Seniors, their bones are quite a bit weaker than they once were. This leads to an increased risk of broken bones in seniors – particularly related to falls.
Regular strength training has been shown to reduce and perhaps even reverse the loss of bone mass.
Greater Functional Independence: Strength training not only strengthens your muscles and bone density, but also improves balance and core strength. This greatly reduces the risk of falls and helps Seniors maintain functional independence.
Mental Health Improvements: Studies have shown that the benefits of strength training include reductions in the symptoms of depression and also reduced anxiety levels.
Controlling Your Blood Sugar Level: Strength Training can help you stave off (or fight!) Type 2 Diabetes. Multiple Studies have shown that strength training both burns up glucose and allows muscles to better store glucose – greatly reducing blood sugar levels.
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Additional Resources for Senior Exercise & Fitness Advice
Unfortunately, there are a lot of web sites out there giving unreliable fitness advice. But there are also some great ones which we rely on when writing our articles. A few great resources for information you may want to also check out include the National Institutes on Aging and AARP’s “Healthy Living” website.