Weight Lifting: Middle Age Shouldn’t Slow You Down
By: Keith
Weight lifting, and other resistance training, isn’t just for high schoolers and muscle heads. It’s for anybody who wants to be healthier and stay that way into old age. A study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, found that men in their 20′s, 30′s and 40′s gained just as much muscle after weight training during a 12 week period as younger men who also participated in the same 12 week study. Older men (older than 50) who lifted weights showed less muscles loss (which happens naturally into old age) than their peers and had fewer chronic pains. A separate study from Norway indicates that resistance training is more effective than other therapy methods for shoulder injuries. The results verify what we all suspect. Muscle tone keeps things in your body from going wrong regardless of age. It also helps repair things that have already gone wrong. Cardiovascular exercises are wonderful for heart health, buy they do little for muscle tone and overall alignment. Resistance training is necessary for those wanting an optimally healthy lifestyle.
What Kind of Resistance Training?
A lot of people mistakenly believe that resistance training is the precursor to body-building or The World’s Strongest Man competition. Resistance training does not require a sweaty gym or a muscle beach atmosphere. Resistance training can be as simple as body weight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, crunches and dips) or as involved as a full gym experience with lots of free weights. The idea is not to get big muscles (unless that’s what you want) but to evenly strengthen all your muscles in the interest of improving both your body’s health and physique. Some popular resistance training methods:
1. Body Weight: You can check out some of the exercise routines that I’ve created and posted. You’ll find that body weight exercises are more than just push-ups and pull-ups (although there’s plenty of that). I’ve incorporated Yoga and Pilates as well as a variety of other systems to create a series of full body strength routines. Any exercise that uses your own body as the resistance qualifies in this category. It can be isometric or plyometric or anywhere in between.
2. Resistance Bands: I own a set of these and use them when I’m on vacation. They’re just medical tubing with handles, and you can use them to strengthen every part of your body. Legs, arms, shoulders, chest, back – everything. They’re cheap, portable and effective. Once you learn to use them (they feel strange at first) they’re perfect.
3. Dumbbells: P90X uses dumbbells for most of their resistance moves. The upside to dumbbells is that you know exactly how much you’re lifting and improving. They’re also more versatile than bands because you can control range of movement better and do a wider variety of exercises with them. The downside is that they’re expensive and, obviously, heavy.
How Often?
I do some kind of resistance training 5 days per week for 20 minutes at a time. It doesn’t take long to build muscle when you’re consistent and you have a plan. There’s no sense in spending hours in a gym when your goal is to achieve basic fitness and get your body looking toned. I do, for example, shoulders and back one day then switch to chest and arms the next. My workouts are always changing week by week, and I’m constantly inventing new routines. That way I never get bored and my muscles are always challenged. That’s how I get away with only 20 minutes a day, intense and always new. 3 times a week I also do yoga (takes me an hour), and I walk around town whenever I get the opportunity. Fitness isn’t hard, it just demands consistency.
When I was in high school and college I didn’t do any weight training. I spent all my time running. I was skinny and fast but could have been blown over in a strong wind. I was also terribly inflexible and prone to injury. Now, since I’ve been doing yoga and resistance training, I get fewer injuries, feel better and don’t look like a stick with feet. I used to think that exercising meant running, swimming or biking. Now I realize that true fitness requires movement of all kinds including flowing range of movement (yoga), static resistance (isometric poses), free weights and, yes, cardiovascular exercise. To stay injury free into middle age try picking up some weights.
Related posts:
My arms are cut but puney so weights are a great idea but after breaking my hip I have NO strength in my leg, what will help? Can you help me, fitness guru?
Mom: Well, you have the female equivalent of my arms. I’ve always had muscle there, but when you’re skinny you’re sorta lucky that way
I wouldn’t have any idea what to do with that pin in your leg. I’d normally suggest walking, but in your case you could use some good physical therapy. (Stupid state should have paid for that). 
frowny face
And lifting weights is awesome for women. Women don’t have the same hormones as men, so they won’t bulk up like men. And since muscle burns more calories than fat (even while resting), the more muscle, the more calories will get burned every day.
And you’re right, it doesn’t take a long workout to build muscle, just consistency.
Debbie: That’s true. Women can’t ever become bulky no matter how much they lift unless they have a drug assist. I constantly find myself correcting women who tell me they don’t lift weights because they don’t want to get bulks. Thanks for pointing that out here
I attend a womens fitness class where we all use resistance bands and then move onto kettle bells. The resistance bands help us to tone and warm up for the heavier lifting exercises. I have to admit, even though I didnt like the kettle bells at first, they have really helped me to tone up around the waist which is definately a good thing!
Body Fortress: I forgot to mention Kettle bells! Doh. You’re right; they’re weird to get used to but once you’ve got it they’re one of the best forms of resistance training.
I think this is a really important post, Keith. But here’s the issue. By the time you’re middle-aged (not that I would know anything about that, of course), you’re bound to have some sort of minor medical condition at the very least, or injuries. Totally normal.
So unlike picking up a weight training program in your 20s or 30s, how can you know where to begin and what is okay to do, if a gym or personal trainer is out of the question either logistically or financially?
I know I’d love to do some weight training, but I certainly would need to a specific course of action at least for a time, due to shoulder and knee injuries sustained in an accident. They may be nothing more than an “inconvenience” in real life, but in any sort of sports or exercise regime, they’d require special consideration. And this would be true for most of those who are 45+ in my opinion.
Any suggestions?
.-= BigLittleWolf´s last blog ..The Lost Art of the Generalist =-.
Wolf: I agree that most people need to be checked out by a doctor before they start a fitness program. There are some really great books available for home-based resistance training programs. I saw one just yesterday (but I naturally forgot the name of it) at Borders. It was full of modified exercises for people with injuries. Try to search the libraries and book stores that have books on weight training routines. Use your judgement on what you think you can do, and start with very light weights. Sometimes I even tell people to hold nothing more than a 2lb weight so they can learn the movements and begin to understand their body. Weight training, like most exercise, requires that you never push too far. Thus, the first course of action is to get moving slowly and feel out where that edge is for you.
Weight lifting is one thing that has not be affected by age, thank goodness. Unlike running and biking, weight lifting provides for a longer vitality.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..IRA Rollover Rules =-.
Hola la pagina esta buenisima, en mi gimnasio hay un señor de 78 años que siempre se ejercita y la verdad el me anima a seguir entrenando.
This is so true. In fact I would take it one step further, and say that weight training is the best form of exercise for people as they get older.
As weight training is a slower exercise there is less risk of injury. I myself am already suffering from long term injuries that make intensive cardio difficult. My running days are over, my kickboxing days are gone. But I can still lift weights.
Having a slightly dodgy knee or old achilles injury does not stop you from doing pull ups and bench presses.
.-= Jon@ Weight Loss Exercise´s last blog ..Full Body Weight Training Workout Split Over 3 Sessions =-.