Strength training benefits go beyond just building muscle including reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease and other health conditions, improving your balance and quality of life, and more.
Strength training is crucial for building and preserving muscle mass, improving bone density, and increasing your metabolism. But it’s not just for the young crowd at the gym or the bodybuilders entering competitions. As we age, we start to lose muscle mass, making strength training an important part of everyone’s health and wellness routine.
Learn more about strength training, why it’s important for your health, and some tips for getting started.
The Basics
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults recommends muscle-strengthening exercises for all the major muscle groups at least twice per week. The guidelines also call for adults to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, like walking or biking, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity (like running or lap swimming) each week.
There are a variety of ways to incorporate muscle-strengthening exercises into your routine. Strength training can be done at home or in a gym, and you can lift free weights, use machines, work with a resistance band, or use your own body weight as resistance.
- Body weight – You can do many strength exercises with little or no equipment, using just the weight of your body and gravity as resistance. Body weight exercises include moves like pushups, pullups, planks, squats, and lunges.
- Resistance bands – Resistance bands are inexpensive, portable, lightweight bands that provide resistance when stretched. They work your muscles in a similar way to free weights or the machines at a gym, but they’re easier on your joints.
- Free weights – Barbells and dumbbells are both considered free weights. You can control the amount of weight you lift, and can be used at home or in a gym. If you don’t have free weights, you can use items around your house, like a backpack full of books, soup cans, water jugs, and more.
- Weight machines – Most fitness centers offer a variety of resistance machines for strength training. There are trainers in the gym who can teach you how to use the machines and explain what muscles they target. This may be a safer alternative to free weights for someone who is just beginning to strength train.
The Health Benefits
Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes as you age. If you don’t do anything to replace it, you will begin to lose muscle mass over time. Because of this, strength training is a key component of staying healthy as we age.
The benefits go beyond
just building muscle to include reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease and other health conditions, improving your balance and quality of life, and more, such as:
- Improving bone density (by stressing your bones, you can increase density and reduce the risk for osteoporosis and fractures)
- Increasing metabolism (burn calories more efficiently, even when you’re at rest)
- Improving blood sugar management and insulin sensitivity
- Building lean muscle mass, reducing body fat, and managing or losing weight
- Preserving existing muscle and decreasing the effect of age-related muscle loss
- Improving your ability to do everyday activities and maintain independence as you age
- Lowering your risk for injury
- Improving balance (a stronger core and lower body can give you a more stable base and help you prevent falls)
- Improving conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, and easing symptoms of arthritis.
- Helping you live longer. People who strength-train have a lower risk of dying early, including from heart disease. There may also be a smaller benefit for cancer deaths, though that evidence is less certain.
- Improving mood and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression
Tips for Getting Started
- Check with your healthcare provider. If you have a chronic condition, if you’re older than age 40, or you haven’t been active recently, check with your provider before beginning a strength training program. Discuss what types of exercises will be best based on your current fitness level.
- Consult with an expert. You may wish to consult with a trainer or a certified fitness instructor to learn correct form and technique before beginning a strength-training program. Using a machine incorrectly or lifting free weights without proper form can cause serious injury.
- Warm up. Before strength training, consider warming up with brisk walking or another aerobic activity for five or 10 minutes. Cold muscles are more prone to injury.
- Develop a plan.
You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20- or 30-minute strength training sessions a week. Make a plan that includes full-body exercises, as well as exercises that target your upper body, lower body, and core. Choose a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. When you can do that easily, gradually increase the weight or resistance. - Rest and recover. To give your muscles time to recover, be sure to rest between strength training sessions. Also, make sure to listen to your body. If a strength training exercise causes pain, stop. Consider trying a lower weight, asking someone to check your form, or trying it again in a few days. You may find that you have to modify certain exercises due to a chronic condition or injury.
- Find what works for you. The best workout is the one you’re going to stick to. It may be group classes at a gym, body weight exercises at home, walking with a weighted vest, or using free weights to follow along with a free video on YouTube. Although guidelines suggest at least two strength sessions a week, even small amounts of activity and resistance work are helpful.
- Don’t make comparisons. Everyone’s body is unique. We all age differently and have had different life experiences. Modify your strength training program so that it’s right for you.
Resources to Support You
- Military OneSource offers free consultations with health and wellness coaches for eligible Service members and their immediate family members. Coaches can provide information, support, and accountability on topics such as nutrition and fitness.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers the MOVE! Program, which is a weight management program designed to help you lose weight, increase your physical activity levels, change your eating habits, and more.
- VA’s Gerofit is an exercise program that promotes health and wellness for older Veterans. Participants work with a trained exercise staff to create a personalized exercise plan, including participating in group classes like tai chi, dancing, and walking, as well as exercises to work on balance, strength, mobility, and more.
Use those muscles before you start to lose them! Get started on a strength training program that works for you.