Great news! Strength training for older adults does not have to be more than once a week. Unlike young adults, who have lots of energy and in-body strength, older adults have always feared inflammation during strength training. However, they no longer need to fear building their muscles.
WHY PEOPLE FEAR STRENGTH TRAINING FOR OLDER ADULTS
Aging at a normal pace comes with a slight reduction in body strength and muscle mass. People typically experience a 30% body strength reduction. This reduction pace increases when the person passes the eighty-year mark.
The cause of this strength reduction is the deficits in the body’s functional capacities that happen with aging. The walking speed of older adults is strongly connected to their leg power. This is why they experience high muscle inflammation when they push themselves overboard with strength-training exercises. However, they have nothing to fear if this training is done under supervision.
BENEFITS OF STRENGTH TRAINING FOR OLDER ADULTS
The benefits of strength training cut across all age groups. In the same way, the need for supervision during strength training is crucial, irrespective of age. Strength training helps increase body metabolism, hence helping us live a healthy life.
Besides the significant improvement in overall body strength, another positive impact of strength training in adults is their improvement in functional status and insulin action. Other benefits include improved energy metabolism and bone density. Steroids Evolution website has products that will help you build body strength.
For older adults, strength training is now a common way to medically build their health. This is because of the health benefits that strength training offers to the body.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ONCE-A-WEEK AND TWICE-A-WEEK WORKOUTS
Effective strength training exercises depend on different factors, like the weight to be lifted, the intensity of the exercise, and the weekly schedule for exercise.
A study showed that supervised once-a-week whole-body strength training for a period of 6 months is safe for older adults. The research indicated that this supervised training will result in less low blood pressure, inflammation, and blood sugar levels, as well as an improvement in overall wellbeing.
The study showed that there is more muscle mass and substantially less body fat among people who exercise thrice a week and once a week. This shows that the health benefits of exercising once a week are the same as twice or thrice a week.
All participants involved in either once-a-week, twice-a-week, or thrice-a-week exercise noticed the same level of increase in HDL cholesterol. However, LDL reductions only took place with participants who exercised three times a week. They noticed that there was no difference in the health benefits for the older adult who participates in once-a-week strength training versus the one who does the same twice a week.
The findings of this research came from exercise conducted by older adults. Hence, there is a possibility that a different conclusion may be reached among younger people. The important thing to keep in mind when it comes to strength training for older adults is that more does not mean better.
