Resistance training for older adults is something that comes up in a great deal of conversations around the dinner table, at the coffee shops, etc. Many people think that resistance training is difficult and for the younger crowd. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! Often times as we age, we start to think we are done, we are not able to do what we use to do. Some of this could be true, but nothing says that we aren’t able to stay in shape and still live a healthy, happy life
Our mind will sometimes allow others to influence our decision making, which will hinder us from doing the things we want or enjoy doing. It might be one of our children worried about us? Or maybe a friend that says something like; you shouldn’t workout, you are to old? No one should make your choices…except you! I believe that if a person is still able to get up and move around, then they are still able to do some simple exercises to help improve their mobility and improve their overall health and strength. That’s why resistance training is the best fit to help older adults improve health and strength.
Why Resistance Training For Older Adults?
Decades of research prove that resistance training prevents functional decline, reduces risk for falls and reduces risk factors for age-related diseases; all important factors that help older adults stay healthy and independent. In fact, the American Heart Association, American College of Sports Medicine, and the American Diabetes Association have all endorsed resistance training as an integral part of exercise programs to promote health and prevent disease.
One of the best ways to keep muscles healthy and strong is through exercises called strength training—sometimes known as weight lifting or resistance training. As a person ages they lose muscle. When you lose muscle your metabolism slows down and you might start gaining weight (fat). The body burns off fat by using muscle, so without the muscle, the body is storing more and more fat each year you age. However, if you are using strength training, or weight lifting, or my favorite; resistance training, then you are building additional muscle and maintaining the muscle that you already have. This resistance training will increase your metabolism, build and maintain muscle and burn fat.
Resistance training is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to get your body in shape, as well as improve your overall health and appearance. Resistance training for older adults as well as the younger crowd, using resistance bands, or even using resistance machines have huge benefits, Such As:
- Resistance training and the resistance bands needed are cheap and easy to use.
- Resistance bands come on different sizes and weight resistance.
- The more you put in the more you get out. (Resistance bands give more resistance the more you excerpt yourself).
- Safe for anyone at any age to use.
- Don’t take up lots of room like other equipment.
- Anyone at any age can use and perform resistance training.
- You can travel with resistance bands. (Take with you on trips and do resistance training on the beach, or in the hotel room, or anywhere else you can think of to exercise.
Why Log All Of Your Resistance Training Workouts?
You can create your own log sheet to measure you arms, chest, waist, legs, etc and then keep track of your weight on the same chart. You can also log your progress from when you started to the current. Keeping track of everything that you do will help motivate you, and it also allows you to see your progress for even more encouragement. It is so important for us to see our training/workout improvements, just as it is if you was trying to lose 20# and got on the scales each day to see your progress. By using simple resistance bands workouts as described on this page and in older post on this blog, you will be able to get healthier and fit for a lifetime of fun and activity’s that you enjoy.
The Five Golden Rules For Setting Goals:
- Set Goals that Motivate You. When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them.
- Set SMART Goals.
- Set Goals in Writing (using a pen and paper).
- Make an Action Plan that will help you reach your goals.
- Stick With It and refuse to give up!
Set goals for yourself, then write them down on paper. Goals are important for improving health, fitness, getting out of debt, losing weight, building more muscle, breaking bad habits, achieving wealth, or anything that we want to do in life. Without goals, it is very hard (almost impossible) to get where we want to go.
**As with all strength-training exercises, remember to breathe throughout each exercise. Your breathing through the exercises is very important.
Stretching For Flexibility and Relaxation:
Cooling down right after completing your workout is just as important as warming up before starting to exercise. Stretching is an excellent way to cool down, improve flexibility, and avoid injuries. It will also relieve tension and help you relax. In fact, it’s a good idea to stretch and breathe deeply whenever you feel tense or need to relax—it will benefit your body and mind.
Stretch real good before any type of workout or resistance training, as well as after the resistance training workout! If you want more resistance band workouts, charts and the “how to do it’s”, then click here for older blog post. Remember; resistance training for older adults is something that can be done at any age. Older adults could be 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, or beyond. You can do anything that you set your mind to as long as you believe it!
Where Can I Find More Information About Resistance Training For Older Adults?
You can simply got to your favorite search engine, like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, and search “resistance training for older adults”, or just search resistance training. Either way you can find so much information about resistance training for older adults. Actually, you will find more information than you care to read (overwhelming amounts) of information. Or, you can stay on this website/blog and go through all of the older post by scrolling to the bottom of this page and click on the older post tab. Keep going back until you find what you are looking for. You will find more resistance training/workouts, resistance bands workouts, where to buy resistance bands, how to use them, resistance bands and training/workout charts will different types of workouts for different muscle groups, etc.
If you decide to go to your favorite search engine and search for resistance training, you can even get more specific by breaking the search down to a specific age. Example: Let’s say you are 70 years old? You could search: “resistance training for male/female age 70”, or “simple exercises for age 70”. By being more specific in the search engine search, you can find more of what you are wanting, and not near as many pages to go through until you find what you are search for. Make sense?
As always, I’d love to hear from you, so leave your comments below. Please take the time to go back through the older post on this website/blog to learn more about health, nutrition, resistance bands workouts, no equipment workouts, how to lose weight fast and keep it off, health foods and how to prepare them, and so much more. 🙂
Stay focused on your goals!
-Mike Pilcher (Age 54)
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