Strength Training For All Ages

Strength, Pain and Misinformation

Strengthening the body is something anyone can do. The human body is beyond amazing, and if you look after it, it will look after you.

Sometimes strength training isn’t about developing a toned physique, or trying to drop some body fat. 

Sometimes strength training is about improving the quality of your life, staying mobile to play with your children or grandchildren, being able to move pain free in day to day life.

Pain in joints such as lower back, knees, shoulders etc, it is often due to a lack of strength.

But, you call the doctor, get prescribed pain meds and never really fix the actual problem. A lot of pain within the body can be fixed by a simple strength training program.

Some doctors will even tell you lifting weights is bad for your back and joints!

Wrong. 

The loss of Muscle, Strength and Bone Density

Muscle mass and strength start to naturally wither away from around the age of 35-40.

Every 10 years you will naturally lose 3-8% of muscle every 10 years. 

Why? 

Because the muscles are not being used.

Like I said, the body is clever and if the muscle isn't useful, your body won't keep it.

This means joints become weaker, pain levels become higher, and the things you could easily do when you were 21 are significantly harder to do.

After the age of around 60, the loss of muscle tissue accelerates.

This is similar to your bone density. If you imagine a thick solid tree branch, these are kind of like bones when you're younger - (or if you strength train).

Now imagine a brittle hollow twig, this is the other end of the scale and how I can best describe bone density. There isn't much density in a twig, it will easily break.

This image shows how training preserves bone density and muscle mass, no matter what age we are

In the image above, you can see how the 74 year old man who is sedentary has muscle and bone wastage, whereas the 70 year old triathlete has almost identical muscle mass and bone density as the 40 year old triathlete,

Strength Training and Longevity

Strength training has so many benefits for health, appearance, mental state. But it can help you live longer, be pain free as you age, keep your mobility and reverse the signs of ageing.

Why wouldn't you do it?

You can start strength training at any age, and see incredible changes within weeks.

You don't need to have any aesthetic goals to want to join a gym.

You don't need to look a certain way or be a certain age to join the gym.

Exercise, and more specifically resistance training is so much more.

If you want to preserve your muscles and bones, live and move longer and keep your quality of life strength training should definitely be considered.