That’s the message from Dr. Marcas Bamman, a physiologist with decades of research into aging who preaches the benefits of weight-resistance training for those entering adulthood.
We talk about People over 60 yearsboth women and men. And we’re talking about going to the gym and lifting weights. Don’t be discouraged, says Bamman.
“Resistance training is, in many ways, the true fountain of youth,” Bamman said in an interview. “I like to say that the fountain of youth is the water cooler at the gym.”
Of course, there are biological limits, but Bamman says that most age-related decline in strength, flexibility and endurance is behavioral: the body is being pushed too little, not too much.
“When I tell someone that in four to six months their strength, muscle mass and general muscle function will rise to the level of people 30 to 35 years younger, that affects me closely,” he said.
You know you’re too sedentary and the birthdays are piling up. You suspect that resistance training would be beneficial, but you may feel intimidated. Don’t feel that way.
Starting
Consult with medical professionals to make sure there are no health issues standing in your way.
Next, find a gym. Larger gyms offer a social component with Activities to do on a day off weight training. And Bamman suggests hiring a trainer.
“It’s actually quite safe, but it requires proper progression,” Bamman said. “You need to have a good instructor who can teach the moves correctly.”
Bamman, a research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, said finding a fully qualified trainer can be tricky.
“We need more rigorous certification of trainers,” he said. “The problem is that you can go online tonight and pay $50 to get certified as a trainer.”
Ready and dusted in an hour
Bamman suggests doing resistance training twice a week. Three times is even better, and he recommends non-weight-lifting days during the week. For example, training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and leaving Tuesdays and Thursdays as rest days.
Suggest 10 different exercise movements, eight are enough. Do 10 repetitions of each movement. Do this three times, which is described as three sets. Then move on to the next move.
By the time you get to the 10th rep, you should feel like you can’t do many more. If you could have done 10 more reps, you might want to increase the resistance.
Bamman says machines are better for beginners, but free weights (barbells or dumbbells) can be more effective as you gain confidence..
Before lifting weights, start with a 5- to 10-minute warm-up (on the treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical machine) to get your blood circulating. You can add a few minutes on the mat to stretch and work your abs.
Then come the weights.
“Sometimes we see people who sit on the machine, do a set and then play on their phone for three or four minutes. We like to keep them moving.”
Women can benefit even more than men
Women can benefit from resistance training even more than men because It is a way to combat osteoporosis, loss of bone density.
“Women are on a disadvantaged trajectory when it comes to bone loss, particularly in susceptible areas like the hips and lower back,” said Bamman, who completed her doctorate at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
“But the benefits of strength training for both sexes are really significant. There are no gender differences in response capacity. As for the increase in muscle mass and strength in untrained people, men and women follow the same pattern.
Yasuko Kuroi is 72 years old and started endurance training about 20 years ago.
“I saw the men in the gym and thought I could do it too,” she said, speaking at a municipal recreation center in Tokyo.
The body demands work
Bottom line: use it or lose it.
Bamman warns against excesses and even criticises health professionals “who pamper the elderly”. Of course, common sense is necessary.
“Our human body is a demand-based system,” he explained. “If we put a chronic low demand on the body, we adapt to that low demand. That’s why we lose muscle mass, that’s why we get weaker. We don’t push ourselves very hard.”
But if you put high demands on the system, such as resistance training, the body has to adapt to those increased demands. The body says, ‘To adapt to these new demands, I have to strengthen my bones. I have to make my muscles bigger.’
Bamman used the example of space flight or prolonged bed rest, where people quickly lose strength.
“Bed rest or space travel is essentially accelerated aging,” he said. “All of our systems, as we age, are able to respond and adapt“They just need the encouragement,” he said, adding that he has seen positive effects in people in their 70s and 80s, and even some in their 90s.
Bamman is 57 years old and joked that he is “getting closer in age to the people I study.” He also stressed that there are no shortcuts.
“These programs offered to older adults, such as seated exercises and the like, are gimmicky and do not put enough strain on the body,” he said.
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