Benefits of Weight Training for Female Baby Boomers |
Posted: June 16, 2014 |
Research shows that over-50s who make regular visits to the gym, go for a long bike ride or enjoy a swim can regain the fitness they had in their thirties.Tests on older women revealed that 12 weeks of exercise was enough to produce the rejuvenation.
Professor George Brooks, an exercise physiologist, said: “There is some good news here for older women in the population, in that they respond much like younger women do to training. “The women in our study had the cardiovascular and metabolic capabilities of women sixteen years younger.” In the past, weightlifting has been lauded as the best overall exercise. For instance, every high school athlete regardless of sport or sex could benefit.A female cross-country runner's program might even include many of the exercises found in a football player's. The difference?Far less weight and far more repetitions. Yes, even in sports where additional muscle would be deleterious like distance running, increasing one's strength-to-weight ratio through weightlifting allows formerly fragile runners to flourish rather than fade near the finish line.And weightlifting aids all non-athletes whether young or old. That means a 60-year-old grandfather and his 16-year-old grandson can work out together.Several studies have shown people in their 80s and 90s who begin a weightlifting regiment nearly double leg strength while other muscle groups get nearly as strong. Other studies have dispelled the myth that children should not lift weights until after puberty. As long as the number of repetitions per set remains high in the 12-15 range and proper form is used, no damage to tendons, ligaments, or bones occurs. The most common excuse given for why more people don't workout is lack of time, which for certain activities is a legitimate excuse. After a four- to six-week acclimation period where learning the movements and employing lengthy recovery times lengthen the workouts, sessions should be limited to 45 minutes no more than four times a week. In fact, longer or more frequent workouts are often counterproductive. Near age 30, all bodies begin to naturally lose muscle mass. If you don't lift weights, the loss can be as high as one percent per year by age 45. That means that a health-conscious 135-pound, 35-year-old, fit female who diets and does aerobics to remain at 135 pounds could be carrying as much as seven or eight pounds less muscle 10 years later which means seven or eight more pounds more of fat. But weightlifting can negate much of that change in body composition. And don't forget that muscle burns calories, but fat is inert. The aforementioned female at age 45 would need to eat about 500 calories less per day to maintain her weight because of muscle loss. Lifting weights ahead of time helps with that more than aerobic exercise. So let’s wrap this up by summarizing some of the benefits and reasons female baby boomers need to get involved in weight training.
So ladies quit the treadmills, yoga and dance aerobics and pick up some barbells!
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