Seniors and Weight Training
Why it is so
Important as We Age
A rite of passage to becoming a senior now appears to be knee
and shoulder replacement. For every pound of extra weight we
carry, it is estimated our knees must carry an additional 3 lbs.
If you are 20 lbs overweight, your knees must move an additional 60
lbs down the street.
When the shoulder and back muscles are
conditioned and exercised, they will support and protect the
shoulder joints by maintaining proper alignment.
How we age is effected by a sedentary or physically active life
style.
The less active we have been over our lifetime, the greater
the loss of our physical abilities:
- With the cardiovascular system there is a 20 to 30% decrease
in cardiac output by the age 65.
- Maximal oxygen uptake decreases approximately 9% and 5% per
decade, for sedentary men and women, respectively.
- There is a loss in elasticity of the major blood vessels
which contributes to a 10 to 40 mm Hg elevation in systolic and
diastolic blood pressure.
- Maximum heart rate decreases approximately 10 beats per
minute per decade, although resting heart rate shows little
alteration with age.
- The respiratory system undergoes a 40 to 50% loss in forced
vital lung capacity (total volume of air that can be voluntarily
moved in one breath, from full inspiration to maximum
expiration) by the age 70.
- There is also a decrease in chest wall compliance, maximum
ventilation and alveolar size.
- The muscular system undergoes a 40% loss of muscle mass and
30% decrease in strength by age 70.
- It is interesting to note that the lower body is more
affected than the upper body with this age-related muscle mass
loss.
- As far as muscular fitness is concerned, it appears that
strength increases into the third decade of life, then plateaus
through the fifth and/or sixth decade, and then declines rapidly
thereafter.
- There is a 1% loss of bone mass per year after age 35, with
up to a 2 to 3% loss after menopause for women.
- Degeneration of the joints, specifically the spine is
common.
- Connective tissues gradually lose their elasticity, muscle
fibers shorten, and joints show decreases in the production of
joint lubricating synovial fluid.
- By age 60, there is up to a 15% reduction in nerve
conduction concomitantly with a reduction in neurons and brain
mass.
- The blood undergoes a loss of hemoglobin (oxygen carrying
protein), hematocrit (proportion of red blood cells to plasma),
as well as red cell mass.
- There is an increase in the total cholesterol with a
decrease in HDL (the good type) cholesterol.
Benefits of Exercise for the Seniors
There are clearly many benefits to be derived from participation in
an exercise program for the mature exerciser. It is well-recognized
that many physical and psychological conditions that commonly occur
during aging can be prevented or delayed in persons with regular
physical activity.
Will You Live Longer if You Exercise?
A Harvard alumni study, following close to 17,000 male alumni over a
period of 22 years, estimated that subjects beginning and continuing
to exercise throughout their life by the age of 35 to 39 years of
age were able to add 1 to 2 years to their life, relative to
those following a sedentary lifestyle.
You may not live longer than your non-exercising peer, but your
quality of life should be drastically different. |
Strength Training for those past
50 and Seniors
At 65 I need to work much harder to keep a lean muscular frame.
It is important for seniors of any age to realize they can carry and
maintain their muscular strength and appearance for many years.
|
Sarcopenia
The term sarcopenia is derived from the Greek root words: sarx
meaning flesh and penia meaning loss. As humans age, many important
general changes occur throughout the body: loss of lean muscle mass,
gain of fat mass, and a wide array of biochemical modifications.
The changes in body composition and metabolism associated with
aging, including the loss of muscle mass, can cause serious
functional and metabolic outcomes that influence negatively the
quality of life.
In normal young and healthy individuals, muscle mass is 40% of total
body mass and 75% of total body cellular mass. In the older
population, these proportions of muscle mass decrease while that of
fat mass increases; this influences strength.
Sarcopenia typically arises during the fourth decade of life,
accelerates after the age of 50, and may advance even more rapidly
after the approximate age of 75. With normal aging -- and even more
dramatically with inactive aging -- there is a decline in the number
of motor neurons that control muscular action. Skeletal muscle
fibers that are subject to those nerve cells can atrophy and
ultimately die, thereby reducing muscle mass.
What can individuals do about this condition? Fortunately, basic,
effective, non-drug-related treatments exist for sarcopenia, such as
muscle resistance training and modified diets with increased protein
content. Further, hormonal interventions (HGH) & Testosterone and
nutritional supplements may also help in the prevention or treatment
of sarcopenia.
What are some of wellness and health benefits with lifting?
- Reduce the risk and effects of Sarcopenia
- Reduce the risk of heart disease (excessive visceral fat a.k.a. abdominal fat)
- Reduce the risk of diabetes (excessive visceral fat a.k.a. abdominal fat)
- Reduce the risk of Hodgkin's lymphoma (excessive visceral fat a.k.a. abdominal fat)
- Reduce the risk of osteoporosis – if you increase muscle mass, you increase bone
mass (men and women both)
- Reduce the risk of high blood pressure
- Reduce the loss of muscle mass that comes with aging
What are some of the physical benefits of weight training?
- Improved posture
- Improved self image
- Improved physical appearance
- Increased energy
- Increased ability to perform task
As a senior myself, I can honesty say weight lifting has been the most important physical activity I have ever undertaken. I have run, biked and cross country skied, but these activities will not build or maintain the muscle mass that humans lose as
we age.
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