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posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 29 2019, @11:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the resistance-is-futile dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

How and why resistance training is imperative for older adults

"When you poll people on if they want to live to 100 years old, few will respond with a 'yes'," says Maren Fragala, Ph.D., director of scientific affairs at Quest Diagnostics and lead author of the position statement.

"The reason mainly being that many people associate advanced age with physical and cognitive decline, loss of independence and poor quality of life," adds Mark Peterson, Ph.D., M.S., FACSM, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Michigan Medicine and one of the senior authors of the statement.

The position statement, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, and supported by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, highlights the benefits of strength and resistance training in older adults for healthier aging.

Fragala explains that while aging does take a toll on the body, the statement provides evidence-based recommendations for successful resistance training, or exercise focused on building muscle endurance, programs for older adults.

"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 and function," Fragala says. "Such losses decrease physiologic resilience and increase vulnerability to catastrophic events."

She adds, "The exciting part about this position statement is that it provides evidence-based recommendations for resistance training in older adults to promote health and functional benefits, while preventing and minimizing fears."

Maren S. Fragala, Eduardo L. Cadore, Sandor Dorgo, Mikel Izquierdo, William J. Kraemer, Mark D. Peterson, Eric D. Ryan. Resistance Training for Older Adults. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2019; 33 (8): 2019 DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003230


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29 2019, @11:17PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29 2019, @11:17PM (#872889)

    This can help, but under some circumstances there is no easy fix.

    Imagine you are tired. Very, very tired. You need to do resistance training, but due to your age, your genetics, you have to work out 2 hours a day, exhausting yourself for hours afterwards.

    What happens is eventually you hit a point, and muscle is never rebuilt. Note that when you move your muscles, when you use them, muscle fibers are breaking all the time. When that happens, the body notices -- and rebuilds them. Stronger, sometimes with two replacing one.

    (There is a specific gene that causes 2 to replace one, instead of only rebuilding the damaged fibres. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/7/9/910.full [cshlp.org] .. and humans can have this gene)

    Anyhow.

    Point is, once the body's repairs systems start to break down, you're sort of in trouble. Because your muscles essentially are designed in a way that they break down, just by use! That's why if you just sit around, doing nothing, you lose muscle mass.

    So, you get old, body stops repairing muscles, and your existing wastes away. Doh.

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  • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:45AM

    by RS3 (6367) on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:45AM (#873010)

    Seniors particularly need extra: whey protein, creatine, vitamin D, calcium and fish oil. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170718142925.htm [sciencedaily.com]

    Now you'll be able to actually kick those brats off your lawn!

  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday July 30 2019, @03:10PM

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Tuesday July 30 2019, @03:10PM (#873123) Journal

    True, so far as it goes.

    The question is does resistance training for muscles (and weight bearing exercise for bone loss but that was already known) allow you to keep your health for longer than it would have been without it? And does keeping up with your training as much as you can, even as the degradation process is happening, keep you functioning in better health for longer?

    For a long time humanity looked at the elderly as a period when one should rest. And one needs rest and that is fine. But we have since learned that one also needs to continue to be active.

    So you get old, you continue to use your body instead of being a couch potato, and you keep your ability to be healthy and active for longer. Also doh, but the difference is gaining the evidence that supports this hypothesis is important so we can convince those who are older that to keep moving and exercising is still beneficial.

    --
    This sig for rent.