When ever something comes along that you think that you want to do or should do and it’s a challenge to do it, do you hesitate? It seems that your mind always has plenty of reasons not to do something. If that activity is strength training, what is stopping you?
Is it your age? Are you worried that since you are a little older that strength or resistance training might be too much for you? Or maybe you are afraid that you might injure yourself lifting weights? Those are legitimate arguments but they shouldn’t stop you from trying. Lifting weights is like running or walking in one respect, you have to start out slowly and then gradually increase your activity. Light weights or even no weights are the way to start out. After a while you will find yourself becoming stronger, and then you can increase the weights.
As for injuries, they may happen and they may set you back but they shouldn’t end your attempt at strength training. If you are careful and only lift weight that you feel comfortable with you’ll avoid most injuries.
What else could be stopping you from strength training? Maybe you don’t want to lift weights and feel that it wouldn’t help you anyway. Now more than ever folks in the medical field are recommending strength training for older people. Why? Because the benefits are wonderful, you will feel healthier, stronger, and more confident, you’ll probably sleep better and those are just a few benefits from strength training.
So give strength training a try!
Getting started in strength training, especially if you are older is a great idea. What is just as important as doing strength training is to do strength training right, avoid making common mistakes that beginners usually do.
- Check with your doctor first. This is important because your doctor can advise you on how much exercise to do and what not to do.
- Lifting too much weight at first. You are probably gung-ho about strength training and you want to lift as much weight as possible in the beginning. When you lift you want to be comfortable with the weight at first. When you feel that you can do 2 sets of 10 repetitions then gradually increase the weight. If you increase too fast you may injure your self.
- Proper technique will insure that you are getting the most out of your workouts. Lifting the wrong way could lead to injuries.
- Not lifting on a regular basis. Lifting twice a week should be enough times to do strength training just make sure you don’t miss a session.
- Becoming discouraged because it seems that you aren’t making any progress. Give yourself time to build muscles and strength Rome wasn’t built in a day.
There is one thing that can’t be stressed enough and that is to increase the amount of weight that you are lifting. Lifting the same amount of weight, even if you increase the number of repetitions doesn’t help as much as increasing the weight. This type of exercise regiment is considered progressive resistance training.
Why do you need to increase the weight?
Your muscles will get comfortable to lifting a certain amount of weight after a while. You have to push your self and your muscles in order to get stronger. But just remember that the increase should be gradual.
If you are using 10 pound dumbbells and you can do 2 sets of 10 reps comfortably then it is probably a good time to increase the weight, not much though. Two sets of 10 repetitions is probably a good benchmark to shot for before increasing that weight.
Always be careful when lifting weight and never strain yourself to lift any amount of weight.
One of the most important benefits of strength training for older people is the increased growth of bone mass. Not only will the loss of bone mass be curtailed but it is also promote bone growth which prevents injury and types of arthritis.
As men and women get older, especially women, the threat of osteoporosis becomes greater. Osteoporosis is the reduction of bone mass and the wearing away of the bone structure. Women, after menopause typically lose 1 to 2 percent of bone mass per year. While calcium supplements help with bone mass loss and osteoporosis it isn’t enough to increase bone density. Strength training retains calcium which helps stimulate bone growth. In fact as we grow older the actual lack of exercise makes us more prone to bone deterioration and possible injuries.
Wolff’s law developed by German Anatomist/Surgeon Julius Wolff better explains why strength training helps bone mass
“Wolff’s law is a theory developed by the German Anatomist/Surgeon Julius Wolff (1836–1902) in the 19th century that states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading.” From Wikipedia
The best part about strength training is that even a small amount of exercises will help tremendously. A couple times a week of light weight or resistance training will make a big difference in your bone mass.
When most people think about weight lifting they think about young people, who either bulk up or just tone up to stay in shape. Few if any think about older people, say older then 50 lifting weights in a gym or doing resistance training of any kind. Those healthy living magazine covers are usually of young folks who are very muscular who spend hours in the gym all the time. Not often do you see individuals over the age of fifty striking a pose showing off their physique for some magazine or on TV. And most of those TV ads for physical fitness certainly target a younger audience.
But now health experts are saying that strength training, weight lifting and resistance training aren’t just for the young and not so old crowd. It has been shown that almost any age group can begin a strength training regimen and receive some benefits from it.
The best part about strength training is that you don’t have to join an expensive gym or buy a lot of equipment. You probably doubt if you can lift much weight at all right now. That’s okay because even lifting a tiny amount of weight can be beneficial.
Where do you start?
Before any exercise program check with a doctor to give you the go ahead to start exercising, and after that you can begin. Even in a little amount of time you will feel better not only physically but also mentally.
