It is important to work as many muscles as you can during a workout. Your chest or pectoral muscles are vital to your overall strength. When even starting out any strength training exercise make sure that you are comfortable with the weight you are handling. If you are new to weight lifting a pair of light dumbbells are just right.
- Find a comfortable place where you can lie down preferably a mat on the floor.
- Bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor
- Hold the dumbbells at your chest with your palms facing your knees.
- Raise both dumbbells straight up and hold for a second
- Lower the dumbbells to the starting position
- Do this 10 times
After you are comfortable with one set of 10 repetitions, add another set of 6 reps. Make sure to take a break in between sets, when you are comfortable with 10 reps in each set, move up to slightly heavier dumbbell.
Always consult with a doctor before starting any exercise program. And if possible no exercise alone.
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.
Stiffness in the bones and joints may prevent you from doing some of things that you need to do or enjoy doing. The inability to do certain things that you used to do when you were younger can definitely be frustrating and lead you to believe that there isn’t any hope. But there is hope, besides strength training for building muscles and stronger bones, there is also range of motion exercises which can be done by older people as well.
What is range of motion exercises?
Range of motion exercises is a type of stretching exercises. When doing this kind of exercise it is always best to do them slowly and fluidly. If at any time you feel pain you should stop. Range of motion exercises is particularly useful for arthritis patients.
The exercises fall in to 3 categories
- Active – The patient doesn’t need any help during the exercise
- Active assistive – The patient feels pain and needs assistance.
- Passive – The patient needs complete assistance.
In order to build a stronger body and a body more fit for exercise you need to do core strength training. Like a building that depends on its foundation your body has core muscles that must be strengthened and taken care of.
Your core muscles are in your abdomen, back and hips. This general area is the core of how you move and how you exercise. Without a strong core you wouldn’t be able to reach your potential in strength training and you would probably have a difficult time doing just the simplest things in life. To often people who start to exercise concentrate on getting bigger arms, shoulders and a broad chest. That is fine, but your main focus should be to strengthen your stomach and your back. Why? Whether you are aware of it or not lifting depends greatly on a strong abdomen and a equally strong back.
What are the best exercises for strengthening the core muscles?
All abs workouts are good as long as they don’t strain your stomach or your back. A common workout device for balance and core developing is a stability ball. There are various exercises that you can do with a stability ball that will help with your core. from the mayoclinic.com site there is a slide show that provides core exercises.
As always check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.
Other benefits of a strong core are good posture and good balance, which is important as you grow older.
When you think about exercising to lose weight you usually think about aerobic exercises like running, walking, swimming and bicycling. They are all terrific exercises that will help you stay in shape, strengthen your heart and help you lose some weight. But to maximize your weight loss you really need to add strength training to your weight loss program.
How does strength training help lose weight?
Muscles love fat. They need fat and they consume fat. Muscles burn fat whether you are working out or not. That is the beauty of strength training. Your metabolism, which breaks down the food that we eat and turns it into energy, is increased by strength training whereas with aerobic exercise metabolism doesn’t change.
Does strength training help older people lose weight?
Yes, the benefits of strength training are obtainable by people of any age. Of course, before you start any exercise program you should check with your doctor first. Once she gives the go ahead start building those muscles.
Older people sometimes have problems with balance which could lead to falling, as you age your bones become more brittle and your recovery time much greater. Strength training can help with balance at any age thus reducing falls and long recovery times. One in three adults over the age of 65 falls each year.
There are many reasons why our balance declines as we age. Bad eyesight, weaker muscles, slower reflexes are just some of the reasons. Many medications can also cause dizziness. High blood pressure and other heart related issues may make you lightheaded and susceptible to falling.
Balance exercises as well as strength training can help prevent falls by strengthening muscles and improving coordination.
Probably the first question that you will have regarding strength training is, “Is it safe for someone older to lift weight?” The answer is yes. Age shouldn’t be a deterrent to strength or resistance training. The usual concerns are that you will hurt yourself or strain yourself. Of course you have to start out with light weights and gradually increase the weight or resistance used.
Another concern is that your body is too frail to lift any weights at all or your body wouldn’t recover from the strain that is put on your muscles. No matter what age you are when lifting weights you have to give your body time to recover, that’s why you don’t lift weights every day. Someone who is older may start out lifting only 2 days a week, maybe only a few exercises with low repetitions.
If you are consistent with your training you will be amazed at how quickly you will see results.
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.
