Science (and the mirror) continues to confirm that we lose muscle mass as we age. It's called sarcopenia. Between 30 and 80, men and women can lose between 30 and 50% of their muscle strength.
We must strength-train consistently to maintain our ability to do what we love as we age.
If you don’t stay physically active through regular exercise and strength training, your balance, energy level, and mobility will decline yearly. Your future mobility and activity are dependent on what you do now.
There are a million reasons why we should all strength train as we age, but one that we may never realize is that it also helps keep the fat off! The aging process has been shown to reduce our metabolic rate, leading to increased body fat. That’s largely because people lose Lean Body Mass due to inactivity and hormonal changes as they age. Lean Body Mass contributes to your overall Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), also known as your metabolism, which is the number of calories your body needs to support its essential functions.
By engaging in strength training (also referred to as resistance exercises), anyone at any age can maintain and can regain some of the muscle loss due to aging/inactivity, which can increase their lean body mass.
The numbers are pitiful. Only 6% of adults in the United States engage in resistance training or any type of weight training at least twice a week, the minimum criteria outlined in the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2008 Guidelines) and by the American College of Sports Medicine. And we ask ourselves why over ½ of the U.S. population is overweight and relies on daily medications to treat chronic lifestyle-induced diseases. “Your DNA loads the gun; however, it is your lifestyle that pulls the trigger.”
Part of the beauty of the benefits of strength training is that you don’t have to be young to reap the benefits. Every one of us will see improvements once we start a program. And maybe the best-kept secret of strength training is that you don’t have to train at a high intensity. You don’t have to be a beacon of health, and it’s important to reiterate that both men and women will benefit from lifting weights.
The layout of the program:
I have grouped programming into training blocks. Each block of training is 4 to 6 weeks in duration. Each training block is designed to build a strong foundation across all major muscle groups. The programming is structured around major lifts that require total body muscle recruitment and as a result, are the most effective at building total body strength, neuro-muscle connection, and coordination. Regardless of your sport/activity/passion, this training program if followed, will make you stronger. This is not a bodybuilding program, so we are not training to put on mass and or size; rather, we are training to improve our total body strength.
The programming is accessible for any level at any age. There are no prescribed load weights; you do what you can safely and correctly.
I have designed the program to be three days a week. Each workout should take no more than 1 hour, including warm-up and mobility work at the start and stretching and foam rolling at the end.
While these workouts will push you, this is not a workout where you will be constantly out of breath and moving nonstop. If needed, taking 2-3 minute breaks between sets is okay. Enjoy the time between sets to take time to assess each set and how you will improve on the next.
If done as designed and you take a day off from strength training between each training session, you will have two days off at one point each week. An example would be strength training on M, W, F or T, Th, Sat or W, F, and Sun. If your schedule does not allow it and you have to do two sessions on back-to-back days, it’s okay. If you complete each training as designed, working as hard as you can each and every working set, you will not have the energy to do two strength training sessions on the same day.
You should fill the other days (non-strength training days) with yoga, cardio (walking, hiking, running, cycling, etc.), HIIT, etc. Planning to take one day off a week from all fitness/movement is a good idea but not necessary for everyone. You can move daily as long as you’re giving your body the recovery (rest and sleep), fuel (nutrition), and rehab it needs.
If you're planning to hit the weights occasionally, you’re wasting your time; there is no need to read further; this is not for you. You must consistently show up and follow the program to see the results.