Strength training is the best way known to counter the loss of muscle mass that plagues many seniors.
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Next to the bench press machine at the health club is a photo of a man lifting a huge pile of iron. The caption reads: “Age: 80 years. What’s your excuse?”
Exercise is the closest we may come to the fountain of youth–that’s now well known. Study after study has demonstrated that fit people tend to live longer, healthier lives. Although activities such as walking, running and biking get most of the attention, strength training is now considered an important part of the equation, particularly for older individuals. The reason, of course, is not to bulk up muscles or even to lift as much weight as the 80-year-old at the health club but rather to counter the progressive muscle wasting and loss of strength that plagues many persons with advancing age.
For most individuals, muscle mass declines at a rate of nearly 15 percent per decade after age 60, sometimes resulting in what doctors call sarcopenia, or loss of lean body mass and strength. According to data from the New Mexico Aging Process Study [1997] and the New Mexico Elder Health survey [1998], 17.5 percent of both men and women showed significant signs of sarcopenia by age 75.
This loss of strength may mean a slower walking speed, difficulty getting in and out of chairs and a reduced ability to handle every day chores such as carrying grocery bags, moving furniture or shoveling snow.
The best way now known to counter this loss of muscle mass and strength is through strength training, and studies have demonstrated that it is both safe and effective, even for persons age 90 and over.
In two 1990 studies, older adults registered an average strength increase of 174 percent and a 10 percent increase in muscle area after just 8 to 12 weeks of progressive resistance training.
One of these studies involved men and women 87 to 96 years of age living in a nursing home, and these subjects increased their heel-to-toe walking speed by nearly 50 percent. In a later study, subjects of similar age had a 113 percent increase in muscular strength, a 12 percent increase in gait velocity and a 28 percent improvement in stair-climbing power.
Although aerobic exercise is ordinarily considered the gold standard for maintaining cardiovascular fitness, recent studies have found that strength training is just as effective in lowering blood pressure, controlling blood sugar and improving cholesterol. By increasing range of motion and strengthening the muscles surrounding joints, strength training can also help alleviate many of the symptoms of arthritis.
The ideal, of course, is to start your strength training early and continue it throughout your life–as the 80-year-old man from the health club has obviously done. Those who are taking up any physical activity after a long period of inactivity should consult a doctor or physical therapist about what is safe.
The weight machines at health clubs and Ys make it easier to lift safely, but even so it’s necessary to have a careful orientation by a trained professional.
A health club membership or expensive equipment is not really necessary, however. A good weight training program can be done at home with inexpensive hand weights, and some of the best tried-and-true exercises–push ups, sit-up crunches and leg lifts–rely on the resistance of your own body.
A good strength training program should include eight to ten exercises that work major muscles in the chest, back, arms, legs and abdomen. They should be performed two to three times a week with at least a day of rest between sessions.
The basic theory is to challenge or overload the muscle by doing 8 to 12 repetitions. The weight should be light enough to be lifted at least eight times but heavy enough that the last three repetitions are difficult to do without sacrificing good form. The fatigued muscles then require a period of rest–at least a day–to consolidate their gains.
Other than not getting sufficient rest, major risks are holding your breath during a lift–which can cause your blood pressure to soar–and using heavy weights too soon. Good form generally involves correct body posture and a slow, fluid movement without jerks or lunges.
Most wellness facilities and health clubs have professionals who can recommend programs and monitor form. A good strength training program is based on common sense, however; it’s simply a matter of using your muscles so you don’t lose them.
Getting Up from Chair
Requires Strength
Getting up from a chair is taken for granted by many young adults; yet it requires a significant amount of strength in the quadriceps and gluteal muscles.
Young adults use about half of their strength to perform this movement, but with the loss of muscle strength that often occurs with aging, many seniors find this basic activity difficult or impossible.
Modified squat exercises are effective in preserving or renewing strength in crucial lower body muscles.
[SOURCE: Michael J. Hewitt, Ph.D., “Growing Older, Staying Strong,” International Longevity Center, Issue Brief, September-October, 2003]
Exercise Good for
Heart Failure Patients
Heart failure patients sometimes find it difficult to walk across a room; yet heart doctors recommend exercise–even for persons waiting for a heart transplant.
A combination of aerobic exercise and strength training strengthens the muscles used for breathing and makes muscles more efficient at using oxygen.
[SOURCE: “Enter the New Iron Age,” Harvard Heart Letter, May, 2003]
Estrogen No Protection
Against Sarcopenia
For a postmenopausal woman, estrogen replacement therapy offers no protection against sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging, according to a recent study.
The study found sarcopenia in 23.8 percent of non-obese postmenopausal women living in the community who were long-term users of hormone replacement therapy. The prevalence of sarcopenia in women not receiving estrogen was 22.6 percent.
[SOURCE: Anne M. Kenny, et al, “Prevalence of Sarcopenia and Predictors of Skeletal Muscle Mass in Nonobese Women Who Are Long-Term Users of Estrogen-Replacement Therapy,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, May, 2003]
Even Once a Week Helps
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends two or three strength training sessions a week, but working out with weights even once a week can be effective in maintaining strength.
In a study at Ball State University, five men, average age of 70, who had spent three months building muscle strength by working out three times a week registered strength increases ranging from 20 to percent to 90 percent. When these subjects dropped back to once-a-week workouts for a six-month period, they maintained the strength they had gained, but a similar group of five men who quit working out for six months experienced significant losses of muscle size and strength.
[SOURCE: “Older People May Retain Muscle Strength with Weekly Resistance Training,” Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, September 27, 2003]
Exercise Lowers the
Risk of Falls by 10%
There’s always the risk that an older person with health problems may fall during an exercise session, but this possibility is more than offset by the beneficial effects of exercise on bones, muscles, hormones, balance and overall health.
A meta-analysis of seven randomized studies funded by the National Institute of Aging found that exercise reduced the risk of falls in older persons by about 10 percent.
[SOURCE: David M. Buchner, “Preserving Mobility in Older Adults,” The Western Journal of Medicine, October, 1997]
Keying in on Muscles
An ideal weight training program includes eight to ten exercises that work the major muscles in the hips, legs, chest, back, shoulders, arms and abdomen. Such a routine requires only about 20 to 30 minutes two to three times a week.
For those lacking even this much time, compressed programs, using only a few multi-joint exercises, are available. One such program, uses only three exercises–wall squat, chest press and single arm row.
· Wall squat: With weights held loosely in each hand, lean your back against a smooth wall with your feet shoulder-width apart and about one and one-half feet from the wall. Start with your knees slightly bent and slowly slide down the wall until your knees approach but do not exceed 90 degrees. Press upward until your knees are almost straight. Then repeat.
· Chest press: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Hold hand weights directly over your elbows and slowly press them toward the ceiling, bringing the weights together in a triangular motion. Lower slowly and repeat.
· Single arm row: One hand and one knee should be on a bench or the edge of a chair, the other arm holding the weight, directly below your shoulder. Keep your back flat and parallel to the floor. Holding your elbow close to your body, slowly raise the weight to just under your shoulder. Lower it slowly and repeat. Reverse the position to work the other side of your body.
[SOURCE: Michael J. Hewitt, Ph.D., “Growing Older, Staying Strong,” International Longevity Center, Issue Brief, September-October, 2003]
REFERENCES:
L. Jerome Brandon, et al, “Effects of Long-Term Resistive Training on Mobility and Strength in Older Adults with Diabetes,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, August 2003.
“Enter the New Iron Age,” Harvard Heart Letter, May, 2003.
Michael J. Jewitt, Ph.D., “Growing Older, Staying Strong: Preventing Sarcopenia through Strength Training, International Longevity Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Issue Brief, September-October, 2003.
Claudia Kalb and Karen Springen, “Reaching Your Peak: Smart Uses for Dumbbells: Strength Training Not Only Keeps You Looking Good, It Can Help Stave Off Heart Disease and Other Age-Related Ills,” Newsweek, June 16, 2003.
Bonnie Liebman, “Exercise: Use It or Lose It! (Interview with William Evans, Director of the Noll Physiological Research Center, Pennsylvania State University),” Nutrition Action Healthletter, December, 1995.
“Muscling Up: Better Health through Greater Strength,” Johns Hopkins Medical Letter, December, 2000.
“Older People May Retain Muscle Strength with Weekly Resistance Training,” Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, September 27, 2003.
Michele Stanton, “Best Moves at Every Age,” Prevention, December, 2000.
“Strength Training May Help Elderly Rebuild Muscles, Improve Health,” Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, October 25, 2003.
Thomai Tsourlou, et al, “The Effects of a Calisthenics and a Light Strength Training Program on Lower Limb Muscle Strength and Body Composition in Mature Women,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, August, 2003.
“Weight Training in Older People Fights the Muscle Loss Condition,” Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, January 10, 2004.
