Training for Seniors
Training For Seniors
Do you know the role resistance training plays in your health as you age?
Aging, even in the absence of chronic disease, is associated with a variety of biological changes that can contribute to decreases in skeletal muscle mass, strength, balance, coordination and function. Such losses decrease physiological resilience and increase vulnerability to catastrophic events. As such, strategies for both prevention and treatment are necessary for the health and well-being of older adults.
Current research has demonstrated that countering muscle disuse through resistance training is a powerful intervention to combat the loss of muscle strength and muscle mass, physiological vulnerability, and their debilitating consequences on physical functioning, mobility, independence, chronic disease management, psychological well-being, quality of life, and healthy life expectancy.
Many seniors assume that they will have to give up on some of the activities they enjoy as they lose mobility, muscle and strength. This doesn’t have to be the case as with proper resistance training you can keep your body fit and healthy in old age.
Let's look at what specifically resistance training can do for seniors and what problems it can tackle.
Muscle Loss: Muscle strength and mass decrease as the body ages leading to Sarcopenia. The rate of muscle loss and strength loss is dependent on exercise level, co-morbidities, nutrition and other factors.
Between the age of 40 and 70 there is an average of 8% lean mass loss every decade. After 70, this increases to 15% per decade.
Walking, swimming and cycling are great activities for the cardiovascular fitness but not sufficient to retain muscle and bone density. The load is simply not enough.
Resistance training has long been identified as the most promising method for increasing muscle mass and strength among older people. Growing literature have confirmed the effectiveness of resistance training in improving muscle mass, strength, balance and endurance among the elderly.
View of Resistance training and sarcopenia (monaldi-archives.org)
Falls: Old age spells risk of injury from falls that might not cause injury to a younger person. Every year, roughly 1/3 of those over 65 and 1/2 of those over 80 suffer an injury caused by a fall. Falls are the leading cause of injury and death for old people. Lean mass and bone density can be preserved and improved through weight training.
A properly designed resistance training program can improve mobility, physical functioning, performance in activities of daily living. Let's also remember the protective role of muscles in shielding our bones and organs from impact.
Mobility impairment or loss: Impairment in mobility affects 14% of those between 65 and 74, but half of those over 85. Loss of mobility is common in old people. This inability to get around has serious social, psychological, and physical consequences.
Resistance Training has a positive effect on both gait and balance in an elder population. Resistance Training improves gait, specifically straight-line walking speed in older adults. It is an adequate training method to improve balance in an aging population. Improvements in strength, attributed to Resistance Training, may allow for greater autonomy and independence to carry out activities of daily living as we age.
IJERPH | Free Full-Text | Influence of Resistance Training on Gait & Balance Parameters in Older Adults: A Systematic Review | HTML (mdpi.com)Mental Health: Resistance training is beneficial for environmental quality of life and sense of coherence. Attending resistance training twice a week seems to be the most advantageous for these aspects of psychological functioning. If it is wellbeing you are after, resistance training seems to be the low hanging fruit.
Effects of a 9-month resistance training intervention on quality of life, sense of coherence, and depressive symptoms in older adults: randomized controlled trial | SpringerLinkCardiac Rehabilitation: Almost 50% of cardiac rehabilitation participants are older adults (>65 years), many of whom are frail or deconditioned. Resistance training has been shown to increase muscle strength, endurance, exercise performance and physical function in older adults with coronary heart disease and heart failure. The combination of aerobic exercise with resistance training in cardiac patients is more effective at improving muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness compared to isolated aerobic or resistance training.
Resistance Training for Older Adults in Cardiac Rehabilitation - PMC (nih.gov)
Here are other benefits of resistance training illustrated.
Aging is a natural process that may lead to detrimental health depending on someone's lifestyle, family history, psychological/psychosocial health, chronic medical conditions, and genetics. However, whether the latter conditions lead to faster aging or vice versa, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and psychological health has been shown to delay the process of aging and its associated problems. Resistance Training can certainly play a pivotal role in improving ones life and is now undisputed. Medicine has increased our life expectancy, now we can also add quality of life to those years.
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As a professional London Personal Trainer Gym, we know how to properly designed resistance training program for seniors. Resistance training programs can be adapted for older adults with frailty, mobility limitations, cognitive impairment, or other chronic conditions.
contact us today.