Resistance Training Aides Senior Citizens

Physical exercise, one of the foundational lifestyle choices that leads to wellness, should be a lifelong pursuit. However, a new study indicates that weight training or other forms of resistance exercise can be beneficial even if you are in your 50s or 60s.

Exercise provides several benefits that keep the body healthy. The most important is to keep elimination routes open so that toxins can be easily removed from the body. The elimination routes that get a positive effect from exercise are breathing, sweating, defecation, and urination. Those who have a routine exercise program are also less likely to experience constipation and digestive tract issues. As one exercises, the lymph system is also kept moving, and is less likely to become stagnant.

The ideal workout routine -- for all age groups -- should include both aerobic and resistance exercises. Weight-bearing activities can be particularly useful for helping individuals maintain balance, coordination, and musculoskeletal strength well into their golden years. Starting early is best, but it's never too late to help yourself stay healthy and well through consistent physical exercise.


Boomers Should Add Muscle Before It's Too Late
Wed Sep 24, 11:47 PM ET

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Strength training can help people build muscle mass to assist in the fight against the debilitating effects of old age until they reach 80, a new study says.

After that, not so much, according to the authors.

The Ball State University study, sponsored by a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, found that while six men in their 80s did get somewhat stronger, their whole muscle size and fiber size did not grow during a 12-week training regime.

"We know that there is accelerated muscle loss as we get older," Scott Trappe, director of Ball State's Human Performance Laboratory, said in a university news release. "The best way to keep our muscles from shrinking is through resistance training, which allows our body to maintain muscle size and strength as we go through our 60s and 70s."

Trappe said aging eventually causes the loss of "fast-twitch" muscle fibers, reducing the ability to produce the explosive movements that allow us to move our feet and arms to keep from falling. The concurrent loss of slow-twitch muscles, the large ones found in the legs, thighs, trunk, back and hips, weakens posture as well. Together, these losses make it harder to balance and maintain an independent life.

"At this point," he said, "I would advise people to actively engage in some sort of resistance training once they hit their 60s. From our study, once you hit the threshold of 80, that may not be possible."

A 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, estimated U.S. health care costs directly attributed to sarcopenia, the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, exceeds $26 billion. Indirectly, sarcopenia has contributed to a doubling of home health care and nursing home expenditures to $132 billion annually.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about healthy living for older adults.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080925/hl_hsn/boomersshouldaddmusclebeforeitstoolate&printer=1;_ylt=AmvGxZI8T7Q4f3Wj3rWemlW9j7AB