It is inevitable, of course, that aging will affect all of us. It is never too early to begin thinking about how you want to maintain your physical health into your later years. As you get older, it’s more important than ever to take care of your health and stay active for as long as possible. The great news is that you can maintain and even improve your physical condition with strength training. There are many reasons as to why strength training is so important to keep up with as you get older.
Manage (or even balance) High Blood Pressure
If you develop and keep up with a proper strength training routine you have a good chance of reducing your blood pressure, as strength training makes the heart stronger and forces it to pump blood more efficiently. Blood pressure has a knock-on effect on many other areas of health, too.
Keep Up With Your Daily Activities
If you keep up with strength training as you age you will be able to keep up with doing things like daily chores, getting the groceries and even something as simple as taking a shower. These are all things that can mean a lot to people who worry about losing their independence.
You Will Burn More Calories
Strength training will help you to be able to effectively burn more calories. This means that you will have much more success with shedding unwanted weight in the long term.
You Can Build Leaner Muscle
People lose five to seven pounds of muscle every decade after they turn twenty. It is important to develop a proper strength training routine so you can avoid muscle loss and build it instead. And believe it or not, this is entirely possible, even if you are quite a few years past twenty and are only just getting started!
There are some fabulous inspirational people that are making headlines these days, showing us that we can push the boundaries of perceived limits around fitness and aging. How about Tao Porchon-Lynch, whom at the time of this article, is 98 years old … and a yoga teacher:
Or how about Johanna Quaas, whom at the time of this writing, is also in her 90’s … and a gymnast:
Here Are Some Basic Tips for Starting a Strength Training Program:
- Always, always get advice from your doctor before you start.
- You should start with training two days a week with a day of rest in between. Then you should add a third day to challenge yourself.
- You need to pay close attention to proper form when doing exercises. This way you will help to prevent injury by doing an exercise incorrectly.
- Always keep in mind that when you are strength training it should never cause you pain. If you experience any pain stop right away.
No matter what age you happen to be, it’s never too late to incorporate strength training into your fitness routine – you just need to be willing to adapt it according to your specific circumstances, and get the OK from your doctor. By helping to make sure that your body stays strong you will be helping to maintain your independence for many years to come.
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