Strength Training After 50
When you think of exercise, what pictures come to mind? People walking? Bench pressing weights? Riding bikes? You’ve probably heard that you should do a mix of cardiovascular and strength training—like jogging and lifting weights—in order to feel your best.
But, really, strength is the foundation of every activity. If you practice strength training on your major muscle groups, you’ll do everything else with greater energy, whether you’re jogging, playing sports, swimming, riding a bike, or any other exercise.
It’s easy to avoid strength training because it seems foreign to us. But with personal training, building up your strength even after age 50 can become a routine part of your week. You may even enjoy your life more as you age . . . especially if you get stronger.
Why is Strength Training Important After Age 50?
Our bodies naturally change as we age. ACSM's Exercise for Older Adults (page 201) explains, for example, that we often get heavier during our 30s and 40s, find a stable weight in our 50s and 60s, and then get lighter after age 70.
However, we may be losing muscle mass and gaining fat after 50. That can make daily activities more difficult. Strength training is vital for working around this common trend. Since you know it happens, you can plan for it and overcome it through personal training.
As the vertebrae in our backbones slowly compress with each decade of life, we also get slightly shorter as we age. The curve of our backs can increase. Again, this can make exercise seem unpleasant, but strength training can keep your body stronger for longer.
Overcoming a Common Challenge
A common problem that frustrates some of our clients when they first come to us includes their ability to climb stairs as they age. Leg muscle strength generally decreases after 50, along with balance and coordination, which makes doing stairs a more difficult task.
But, you can work on building up a foundation of strength as you age. Your personal trainer can also help you to improve your balance and coordination. It’s automatically included during certain types of strength exercises. You don’t have to feel weak or uncoordinated after 50!
Breathing Better After 50
Another bodily system that changes with age is our breathing. Our chests get stiffer, weakening our ability to breathe out. The air sacs in our lungs get worse. And our diaphragm muscle can get weaker. That means that we have to learn new breathing strategies as we get older.
A personal trainer can get you through the times when it seems strange and difficult to exercise (not like when you were younger). Your trainer has seen these difficulties before and helped other clients get through them.
These changes matter a lot if you want to continue enjoying life and being there for your family. You need your breathing strength when you face challenges or go through illnesses, like the flu. Regular exercise, strength training, and a healthy diet can help.
How Often Should You Practice Strength Training?
As we get older, we can lose muscle size and mass, bone density, metabolic function, endurance, flexibility, and more. This reduces our ability and desire to exercise . . . unless we fight against it.
If your muscular strength and power are lower than they could be, it can actually lead to later disability. That’s why it’s so important that you have a weekly exercise routine. For example, your routine could look like this:
3 Days Per Week: General cardiovascular exercise for at least 10 minutes at a time.
2 Days Per Week: Strength training to improve the muscles of your arms, shoulders, chest, back, abdominals, hips, and legs.
If you’re ready for personal training or general strength training, join Next Phase Studios to help you reach your goals. Also, check back soon for more health and fitness information on our blog.