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Showing posts with label Strength. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strength. Show all posts

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Seniors, lift weights for one year to preserve your leg strength

 

Taking up resistance training using heavy weights can help seniors maintain their leg strength, which is a strong predictor of death in the elderly. — AFP

Lifting heavy weights around the time of retirement could preserve leg strength into older age, research suggests.

People naturally lose muscle function as they get older, and experts see faltering leg strength as a strong predictor of death in elderly people.

Previous short-term studies have shown that resistance training, which can involve weights, body weight or resistance bands, can help prevent this from happening.

New research has explored the long-term effects of a one-year supervised resistance training programme using heavy weights.

For the study, 451 people of retirement age were randomly split to undergo one year of heavy resistance training, one year of moderate-intensity training, or one year of no extra exercise, on top of their usual activity.

People in the resistance training group lifted heavy weights three times a week, while those doing moderate-intensity training did circuits, including body weight exercises and resistance bands three times a week.

Each exercise in the resistance training group involved three sets of six to 12 repetitions at between 70% and 85% of the maximum weight the person could lift for one repetition.

Bone and muscle strength, and levels of body fat, were measured at the start of the research, and then again after one, two and four years.

At the four-year mark, the full results were available for 369 people.

They showed that those in the resistance training group had maintained their leg strength over time, while those doing no exercise or at moderate intensity had lost strength.

Writing in the journal BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, the researchers concluded: “In well-functioning older adults at retirement age, one year of heavy resistance training may induce long-lasting beneficial effects by preserving muscle function.”

The researchers found, however, that there was no difference among the three groups in leg extensor power, which is the ability to kick a pedal as hard and as fast as possible; handgrip strength (a measure of overall strength); and lean leg mass (weight minus body fat), with decreases in all of these.

When looking at visceral fat stored internally around organs, levels remained the same in the resistance training and moderate-intensity exercise groups, but increased in the no-exercise group.

The authors, including from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said people in the study were generally more active (clocking up an average of nearly 10,000 steps a day) than the population as a whole.

But they concluded: “This study provides evidence that resistance training with heavy loads at retirement age can have long-term effects over several years.

“The results, therefore, provide means for practitioners and policymakers to encourage older individuals to engage in heavy resistance training.”

People at the end of the study were aged 71 on average, and 61% were women. – PA Media/dpa

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Tuesday, October 12, 2021

There are many benefits to weighlifting

 

"How I Used Old-School Heavy Lifting Techniques to Build a ...

 https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/a34990001/bigger-body-transformation-mass-building/

 canada, Rory van Ulft, Schoolgirl Rory van Ulft Ottowa deadlift 80kg squat 61kg, Rory van Ulft viral video, Rory van Ulft trending, weightlifting, indian express, indian express news

Several pictures and videos of the young girl lifting heavyweights have gone viral on social media with many praising the young girl's ability to lift. year-old who can lift 80 kg ...indianexpress.com

https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/strongest-girl-in-the-world-meet-the-7-yr-old-who-lift-weights-of-80kg-7099518/

 

Sure-fire, get-in-the-best-shape-of-your-life-or-your-money-back fitness fads have been around for thousands of years.

Just in my lifetime, I’ve seen boot camps, Bowflex, CrossFit, hula hooping, Insanity, Jazzercise, kettle bells, P90X, Pilates, pole dancing, spinning, Tabata — and that’s by no means a complete list.

Over the years — centuries really — one method won’t ever show up on a list of fads, but, despite the lack of hype, it may very well be the most beneficial of the bunch: good, old-fashioned weightlifting. Let’s take a look at some of the proven benefits of weight training.

Testosterone

In excessive quantities, testosterone can be problematic. But in normal quantities, it motivates us, gives us energy, helps us take the initiative and gives us a sex drive (women have testosterone, too).

Below-normal levels of testosterone have been linked with depression, lack of drive, concentration problems, fatigue, irritability, physical weakness, diminished or absent sex drive, sleep problems, trouble coping with stress, your overall risk of mortality and more. Strength training boosts the body’s natural testosterone production.

Overall health

Weight training has been shown to increase bone density (thereby reducing the risk of fractures in older adults), improve balance (which reduces the risk of falls that might cause fractures), reduce the risk of stroke by as much as 40%, lower blood pressure (some studies show that two weight-training sessions per week is as effective as blood-pressure-lowering meds), strengthen the heart, reduce diabetes risk and cance, and improve longevity.

“The greater your muscle mass, the lower your risk of death,” said UCLA researcher Dr. Arun Karlamangla. “Thus, rather than worrying about weight or body mass index, we should be trying to maximize and maintain muscle mass.”

Physical performance

Strength training helps offset the half-pound of muscle mass we lose every year after about age 30. It also increases your strength, flexibility and endurance. That makes us less likely to get injured doing other athletic activities. Strength, flexibility and stamina are also quite helpful to maintaining your sex life.

Theoretically, we spend about 30% of our life sleeping. But in reality, many of us are chronically tired. Regularly getting less than 6 hours of sleep is associated with a host of serious health risks, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, mental illness, car accidents and general cognitive impairment.

Researchers Patrick O’Connor, Matthew Herring and Amanda Caravalho found that people with sleep problems who did regular strength training for 8-10 weeks had a 30% improvement in the quantity of their sleep. Older adults who did regular weight training reduced the number of times they got up at night compared to those who didn’t do any exercise.

Mental health

By changing the shape of your body in a good way, weight training may improve your self-esteem. It also training triggers a release of endorphins, which help reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

A little anxiety is a good thing— it keeps us aware, makes us focus, and gives us the energy to run away from dangerous situations. But too much anxiety can ruin your sleep, cause physical pain, and have a negative effect on your whole life.

O’Connor, Herring, and Caravalho found that people who did weight training and cardio three times per week experienced less depression than those who didn’t get that exercise.

Cognitive function

Strength training builds strong brains as well as strong muscles and bones. People who lift weights tend to have a larger hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps with verbal processing and memory.

According to O’Connor, Herring, and Caravalho, resistance training is especially beneficial to older adults, especially in memory and memory-related functions. Other researchers have found that weight training improves executive function, which is the brain’s capacity to keep us organized and on task.

Social status

Like it or not, we’re animals. And like most other animals, we have a social structure that in many ways operates out of our control. Here’s how it works: physically strong men tend to be more confident. Confident (and muscular) men tend to be more respected by others, are seen as better leaders and more competent in general.

As a result, they’re able to motivate others to work harder, they get more promotions, and they make more money. They’re also seen as more attractive than their less-confident (and less-muscular) brothers.

“Studies have demonstrated that people assign positive personality traits to drawings or photographs of mesomorphic (muscular) men and mostly negative traits to nonmesomorphic men,” said researchers Timothy Judge from the University of Florida and Daniel Cable from the London Business School.

For example, traits ascribed to mesomorphic men were very positive (i.e., best friend, has lots of friends, polite, happy, helps others, brave, healthy, smart and neat). By contrast … ectomorphic men were described with a different set of negative traits (i.e., nervous, sneaky, afraid, sad, weak, and sick).”

Future of the species- For the men

Besides making men more attractive to the opposite sex, weight training can have an influence on future generations. Weight training gives our DNA an improved capacity to repair itself. That keeps our genes healthy. And since our children get half of their genes from dad, at least some of our healthy genes will be passed on to our children, thereby making them healthier too.

In addition, a 2004 study of Danish men found that muscular men had more semen volume, a greater number of healthy sperm and were more fertile than either skinny or obese men.

Easy implementation

Tapping into the benefits of weight training isn’t all that complicated. While cardio exercise, almost by definition, can take a lot of time, many experts say that 30-60 minutes of weight training per week is plenty.

By |  Armin Brott is the author of “Blueprint for Men’s Health,” “Your Head: An Owner’s Manual,” and many other works on men’s health. Visit him at HealthyMenToday.com or send questions or comments to armin@healthymentoday.com 

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