What is it:
Strength training, also called resistance training, is an integral component of exercise training. Strength training, at its basic, consists of a series of movements such as pushing, pulling, and lifting against resistance. Resistance can be created with the use of free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or body weight.
Purported claims:
The benefits of strength training go way beyond increasing overall fitness and body composition. Regular strength training can:
- Build joint stability, strength, power, and balance
- Increase lean muscle mass
- Reduce body fat
- Improve flexibility and range of motion
- Improve athletic performance
- Manage blood glucose levels
- Increase bone and muscle health
- Decrease chronic inflammation
- Improve brain health
- Decrease all-cause mortality
What the science says:
Similar to aerobic exercise, there is wide consensus about the benefits of resistance training to overall health and longevity. However, regular strength training has some important advantages over cardio training. Most notable are the increase in muscle mass, bone density, and balance.
Muscle mass starts to decrease about 3-8% per decade after the age of 30. The often used saying “use it or lose it” pretty much sums up what happens to muscles, and our strength, when we age. Resistance training is the most effective way to build strength and stave off the age-related loss of muscle mass, a condition called sarcopenia, which can be detrimental when aging. Moreover, higher lower- and upper-body strength has been shown to lower mortality regardless of age.
Similar to muscles, when bones are put under stress from weight-bearing exercises, they get stronger by producing new bone cells, which strengthen existing bone mass and density. Strength training can prevent osteoporosis, a critical loss of bone mass that, like sarcopenia, is directly linked to one’s later life quality. Studies have shown that the mortality rate after a hip fracture from a fall for people 65 years or older was 3-fold against the general population.
When it comes to longevity and quality of life, balance is equally important to strength, but it's not often associated with resistance training. Maintaining your center of gravity when working against resistance requires a constant effort from the sensory system. A recent study with older adults showed that inability to balance on one foot for 10 seconds resulted in a twofold increase in death from all causes within ten years.
While increasing lean muscle mass, strength training can simultaneously reduce body fat. Elevated body fat has been shown to significantly increase the risk of developing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Higher lean mass is also associated with better blood glucose control (insulin sensitivity) because muscle tissue is metabolically more active than fat and is thus more effective at using glucose as fuel even when you’re not exercising.
But muscles and bones aren’t the only things that grow from strength training. Lifting weights improves brain health by increasing brain cell growth, blood flow to the brain, and by maintaining synaptic plasticity. This means that strength training can improve our brain's ability to learn new things, remember old ones, and keep thinking clearly as we age, quite literally, it can make you smarter! More importantly, resistance training could protect us from developing dementia, one of the fastest-growing diseases in the world.
Our take:
In modern society, where most of us are working in sedentary jobs, engaging in activities that will increase our lean mass while decreasing our fat mass are crucial in improving our life- and healthspan. Whether you use free weights, machines, or just your own body weight doesn’t really matter. The important thing is to keep a consistent routine that is both challenging and safe at the same time.
The best part of resistance training (outside the awesome health benefits) is that it is so versatile that you will never run out of various exercises and programs to choose from. Resistance training is easy to modify to accommodate all kinds of bodies and fitness levels, so it truly is an activity you can do throughout your lifetime.
Will this benefit you?
There are no drawbacks to resistance training. A regular training regimen can improve everyone’s health and well-being regardless of age. As mentioned earlier, muscle and bone mass will decrease with age which is inevitable regardless of fitness level. However, the difference between someone fit and muscular vs. someone who isn’t is that the rate of the decline is much slower in those who have been exercising consistently from a young age and keep doing so throughout their lives.
Still curious to try it? If you do, here is what to keep an eye on:
If you’re a novice to strength training, it’s a good idea to start with a certified personal trainer who can teach you the right technique and explain the basics of designing an effective training plan. When you put any kind of strain on your body, injuries can happen, but with a training regimen that emphasizes the right technique and is progressive in nature (not too much too soon), injuries and overtraining can be prevented.
Everything in moderation is a great rule for most things in life. There certainly can be too much of a good thing regarding strength training. Two to three sessions per week are sufficient for people whose goal is to stay strong and reap the general health benefits. If you’re training for a specific athletic goal, you could incorporate additional sessions depending on your sport. Excessive soreness, fatigue that lasts for several days, and poor sleep are all known signs of overtraining.
Besides having an effective resistance training routine and getting adequate rest, fueling your body with quality protein and carbohydrates is key in building muscle mass and recovering properly. Protein intakes ranging from 1.4-2.0 g/kg of body weight/day are optimal for gaining and maintaining muscle mass.
References and additional reading:
https://peterattiamd.com/why-do-we-lose-muscle-strength-with-age/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804956/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29425700/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3118151/
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2022/06/22/bjsports-2021-105360
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19320986/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30513557/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35191588/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21778224/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26456233/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31978826/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5852756/
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