| You don't have to be Charles Atlas to power | | | | Lifting weights can also build up your bones. |
| up with strength training. This kind of | | | | What muscles flex during strength training, |
| exercise is a key to fitness for everyone - | | | | the bones around them respond like plants to |
| especially seniors. Stacks of scientific | | | | sunlight - they grow. |
| studies prove this. In fact, senior muscles | | | | |
| may benefit more from strength training than | | | | Resistance training helps maintain bone |
| young ones. | | | | density at any age. It doesn't take much. |
| | | | Just a little stress on the bones to mitigate |
| | | | the bone loss that is inevitable as you age. |
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| Strength training has many names. Resistance | | | | And it doesn't matter how old you are when |
| training, weight lifting, working out, and | | | | you start. Even seniors with osteoporosis can |
| pumping iron are just a few. Whatever, you | | | | benefit from low-weight, high-rep resistance |
| call it, it's more valuable, easy, and fun | | | | training. It's never too late to start |
| than you probably imagined. For instance, you | | | | preventing bone loss. |
| may not know that strength training can rev | | | | |
| up your metabolism and help you burn off more | | | | Stronger muscles and bones could help you |
| calories around the clock. | | | | preserve your freedom and your ability to |
| | | | take care of yourself. After all, you need |
| It gets results by "stressing" your muscles | | | | muscles to walk up stairs and climb out of |
| more than your humdrum daily activities do. | | | | bed, not to mention carry your groceries and |
| This stress could come from doing pushups, | | | | pick up your grandchildren. |
| pressing a dumbbell above your head, or | | | | |
| curling a coffee can. Believe it or not, | | | | When you follow a regular lifting program, |
| muscles live for this extra work. It makes | | | | you'll start seeing muscles you haven't seen |
| them stronger and healthier. | | | | since you were 30 years old. Strength |
| | | | training carves muscles until they become |
| Put the brakes on aging | | | | lean and well-defined. |
| | | | |
| You lose as much as 40 percent of your muscle | | | | And unlike fat, muscles do more than take up |
| strength during your adult life, health | | | | space. They're constantly eating up calories |
| experts say. This process - called sarcopenia | | | | - three times as many as fat. They keep |
| - starts in your 40s and 50s, when your | | | | churning even when you're not exercising. |
| muscle fibers begin to shrink, become less | | | | Don't stop working out for long, though. The |
| efficient, and disappear altogether. | | | | more you strength train, the more muscles |
| Sarcopenia leads to the weakness, poor | | | | you'll build, which will help your body burn |
| coordination, and bad balance that many | | | | fat faster. So add some muscles and watch the |
| seniors suffer. | | | | fat melt away. |
| | | | |
| Strength training halts this process and may | | | | Strength training could also add 20 yards to |
| even reverse it. According to the latest | | | | your golf drive, or some extra "umph" to your |
| research, your strength could jump by an | | | | tennis serve. It may take you to a higher |
| amazing 100 percent if you're a | | | | level in whatever sport you're active in. |
| weight-lifting senior. Pumping iron works | | | | Moreover, extra muscles helps protect your |
| because it encourages your muscles to grow | | | | joints and lower back during cardiovascular |
| and become more responsive and powerful. | | | | exercises such as jogging and bicycling. |
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