The Benefits of Strength Training: Choose to “Use It,” Not “Lose It”
There’s a lot to be said for the old cliché “use it or lose it.” And, it’s your choice: Choose to “lose it” and you’ll suffer from loss of muscle mass, muscle strength, and muscle function, which may result in less ability to take care of yourself and, ultimately, loss of independence.
Choose to “use it,” however, and you’ll benefit from strengthened bones, better weight management, enhanced quality of life (when you feel good, life is more enjoyable), and even strengthened or enhanced cognitive skills. So, what’s not to lose by “using it?”
What is Strength Training? Strength training—also known as resistance training—is any exercise that uses resistance to strengthen and build muscle. You can use your own body weight, weight machines, dumbbells or barbells, resistance bands, or stability and medicine balls.
Unless exercised, muscles lose strength. At some point in our mid-to-late 30s we start to lose muscle mass and strength if we don’t engage in regular strength training. Most people in their 80s have 40 percent less muscle strength than people in their 20s. Muscle weakness can lead to reduced walking speed, increased risk of disability and a higher incidence of falling. In older people, a fall often causes a fracture, which can lead to hospitalization and assisted living and rob them of the ability to live independently.
Getting Started. Exercises that use your own body weight, such as chair squats and wall pushups (illustrated), are a good way to begin and don’t require any special equipment.
Focus on the large muscle groups, especially if you’re new to strength training. Other good exercises to start with include leg press, leg curl, chest press, lateral row, arm curls, triceps extension, and core exercises, such as abdominal crunches. Start out trying a few repetitions (reps) of several exercises—and don’t feel you have to try all at once.
Aim for 10 to 15 repetitions of each exercise. When using weights, if you can do more than 15, increase the weight; if less than 10, then decrease the weight. Do one to three sets of each exercise, with 30 to 60 seconds of rest between sets.
Don’t work the same muscle group two days in a row—the muscles need time to rest and repair for the strength gains. Another approach is to work all the large muscle groups two to three times per week. Remember to breathe steadily when exercising.
Extend Life. Building up muscles by strength training twice a week may reduce the risk of death in older adults, suggests a recent study involving 30,162 people age 65 and older. The men and women were followed for 15 years. The researchers found that people who strength trained at least twice a week were 46 percent less likely than those who didn’t to die from any cause.
Muscle strength is important in the routines of daily living. Basic activities, including walking, climbing stairs, rising up out of a chair, and even shopping and preparing meals, enable an independent lifestyle, something we all strive toward.
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