Longevity Bloomington Newsletter # 27 - Ten Reasons Why You Need to Lift (Heavy) Things as You Age
The importance of resistance training in aging well
Research Roundup - Why You Need to Lift (Heavy) Things
The importance of resistance training participation as you age cannot be overstated. It provides unique benefits that aerobic exercise does not offer. Unfortunately, only 13% of adults 50+ currently participate in any type of strength training activities.
Strength training is often perceived by many as being dangerous. It is thought of as a task only for young athletes and something that is not suitable for adults 50+. Although people of any age can benefit from resistance training, it becomes far more important to strength train as you get older.
The benefits of strength training for a 20-year-old can be significant. The benefits of strength training for an adult 50+ can be transformative. As you will see, it can improve nearly every area of your life - both physically and mentally.
Many individuals don’t participate in resistance training out of fear of being injured. It is understandable why many people perceive lifting weights as dangerous. It does look more dangerous than other forms of exercise such as walking, cycling, or swimming. Ironically, research shows it is actually one of the safest forms of exercise in which you can participate.
A review of 20 studies found the injury rate of strength sports like weightlifting, CrossFit, and powerlifting to be approximately 2-4 per 1000 hours of participation. To put that number into perspective, if you spend 2-4 hours per week strength training, you could go 3-4 years without experiencing any injury whatsoever. The researchers also noted that most of the injuries sustained in strength training tend to be minor aches and pains. The vast majority don’t require a visit to the doctor.
Now that we have established strength training is safe and people of all ages can benefit, here are ten reasons to start lifting weights today.
1. Protect against the loss of muscle mass and strength
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of resistance training is improved strength. After age 30, most adults will lose 3-8% of their muscle mass per decade if they do not regularly participate in resistance training. After age 70, this rate accelerates to 15% per decade. Even more important is the loss of strength as we age. As you can see in the chart below, this loss of strength can be as much as 40%!
The only way to combat this loss is to regularly participate in a progressive resistance training program and make sure you are getting enough protein in your diet. Use it or lose it!
2. Live Longer
In addition to improving your strength, research has consistently shown that regularly participating in resistance training will improve your odds of staying around longer. Strength training has been shown to reduce your likelihood of dying from cancer, heart disease, and from “all-causes”. Lifting weights for more than 60 minutes per week can reduce your risk of dying by 30%. That is a pretty good return on a one hour investment.
3. Live Better
If you want to live longer, you should regularly participate in aerobic exercise. VO2 max (a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness), is the single greatest physiological predictor of lifespan. If you want to live better, you should add resistance training to your routine.
Improving your strength will allow you to do the things you want to do. It will allow you to travel, play with the grandkids, garden, or do anything else you want to do.
You can toss the luggage into the overhead compartment of the airplane without thinking about it. You can play tennis with your buddies without worrying about getting injured. Heck, you can even climb Mt. Kilimanjaro if you want to!
Possessing sufficient strength as you age opens up your world and improves the quality of your life.
4. Maintain Your Independence
If you want to maintain your independence, you’ll want to do everything you can to maintain your muscle mass and strength. It is intuitive to most folks that the longer you can stay strong, the longer you can remain self-sufficient.
A 2017 study looked at the association between muscle mass, muscle function, and maintaining physical independence in 3493 adults.
What did they find?
Participants with low muscle mass had a 1.65x increased risk of losing their physical independence.
Participants with low muscle function had a 6.19x increased risk of losing their physical independence.
Participants that had low muscle mass AND low muscle function had a 12x (!) increased risk of losing their independence!
5. Stronger Bones
Resistance training may be the most important lifestyle change people can make to improve their bone health. When an individual is lifting weights, the muscles and tendons apply tension (force) to the bones. This increase in tension stimulates the bone cells to remodel and produce more bone tissue. As a result, the bones become stronger and more dense.
Individuals should perform resistance training at least two days per week for all major muscle groups. Importantly, the exercise needs to be intense enough and progress over time to be effective for strengthening bones. From a 2018 review on the effects of resistance training on bone density:
“The greatest skeletal benefits from resistance training have been achieved when the resistance was progressively increased over time, the magnitude of mechanical load was high (around 80% to 85% one RM), exercise was performed at least twice a week, and large muscles crossing the hip and spine were targeted”
6. Better Balance
In addition to exercises specifically designed to improve your balance, resistance training alone can also reduce your risk of a fall. From the authors of a 2020 review on the effect of resistance training on balance:
“studies have consistently shown moderate to large improvements in balance ability following resistance exercise. Previous studies have shown that strength and balance are related and that resistance exercise may elicit significant improvements in balance ability. The consistent moderate or large improvements of scores seen in the present systematic review imply that resistance exercise substantially lowers the risk of falls. Shiotsu et al. [33] reported that the balance ability of adults was improved after moderate-intensity, but not low-intensity resistance exercise. Therefore, moderate- and possibly high-intensity resistance exercise is likely superior to low-intensity resistance exercise in terms of the effect on balance”
7. Improved Mental Health
It is well-established that aerobic exercise improves mental health. Recent research has shed light on the effects of resistance exercise on anxiety and depression.
A 2018 review of 33 studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that resistance training significantly reduced depressive symptoms in adults.
A 2017 review of 16 articles found that resistance training has a small to moderate effect on improving anxiety symptoms.
More broadly, a 2023 study that reviewed other systematic reviews on the topic found that physical activity is as effective or more effective in treating depression and anxiety as medication or psychotherapy. The authors concluded:
“physical activity is effective for improving depression and anxiety across a very wide range of populations. All physical activity modes are effective, and higher intensity is associated with greater benefit. The findings from this umbrella review underscore the need for physical activity, including structured exercise interventions, as a mainstay approach for managing depression and anxiety.”
Disclaimer: This is not to say you should stop taking your medication or cancel your counseling appointments. Both of those options can be very effective and the effectiveness of a particular treatment will often depend on the individual. Depression and anxiety are complex and what works for one individual may not work for another. If medication and counseling do help your symptoms, try adding exercise to your treatment regimen to see if you can get an additional boost. Why not try both? Talk to your mental health provider AND lift some weights. Find what works for you, “but exercise shouldn’t be viewed as a “nice to have” option. It is a powerful and accessible tool for managing mental health conditions.”
8. Protect Against Injury
Rather than increasing your risk for injury, regular participation in strength training can drastically reduce your risk of being injured. When done properly, research consistently shows that strength training reduces injury risk significantly. In this 2013 review of 25 studies, strength training was shown to reduce sports injuries by 70% and overuse injuries by 50%!
A 2002 study found that women who performed progressive, resistive back-strengthening exercises for two years were almost three times less likely to suffer a vertebral fracture. This is a big deal as a 50-year-old woman has a 40% chance of having a vertebral compression fracture in her lifetime.
A 2015 review found that women who exhibited thigh muscle weakness had an 85% (!) increased likelihood of developing painful arthritis in their knee. For men, having weakness in their thigh muscle made them 43% more likely to develop symptomatic arthritis.
9. Better Brain Health
As we have discussed in a previous newsletter, aerobic exercise can improve memory function and literally make your brain bigger. Cardiovascular fitness is associated with the sparing of brain tissue in aging humans.
But what effect does resistance training have on brain health? Although there is not as much research on the effects of resistance training and cognitive function, there is early evidence that suggests strength training can enhance your mental functioning.
A 2020 meta-analysis came to this conclusion:
“In line with prior reviews on the topic, it appears that resistance exercise has beneficial effects on cognition. Specifically, analyses revealed positive effects of resistance training on composite cognitive scores, on screening measures of cognitive impairment, and on executive functions.”
From the authors of a 2019 systematic review:
“In summary, resistance exercises and resistance training are powerful physical intervention strategies to induce meaningful functional brain changes, especially in the frontal lobe, which are accompanied by improvements in executive functions.”
Physical activity can significantly reduce your risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
10. Greater Resilience
An increase in muscle mass leads to a general improvement in your physiological resilience. Physiological resilience is your ability to tolerate and recover from stressors. It is your ability to “bounce back” after a fall, hospitalization, surgery, or illness. Successful aging often depends on a person’s response to the inevitability of life’s stressors. Everyone is going to suffer an injury or illness at some point. Being physically fit is critical if you want to recover quickly and limit the consequences that injury or illness has on your health.
Member Spotlight - Maureen Ragland
1. How long have you been a member of Longevity?
I have been a member for approximately 1.5 years
2. What is your favorite exercise at Longevity? Least favorite?
My favorite exercise is the agility ladder. My least favorite are the box pushes.
3. Where are you from originally? Where did you go to school?
I grew up in Moline, Illinois and attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale before transferring to St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa. I graduated with majors in business and economics.
4. What brought you to Bloomington if you are not from the area originally?
My husband is a professor at IU.
5. Tell us about your family. Any information about your spouse, kids, or grandkids that you would like to share!
I have three boys. The oldest, CB lives in Birmingham, AL with his wife, Erin and our granddaughter, Esther. Connor lives in Chattanooga and my youngest will be moving to Raleigh NC from Chattanooga. Charlie and I have been married for 35 years and have lived in six different states.
6. What do you do for work? If retired, what did you do for work?
I am currently retired. I started my career in finance in Silverthorne, Colo., in the Rocky Mountains. After leaving Colorado, I worked in banking in Dallas and Bloomington.
7. If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Pizza
8. What is your favorite hobby?
Tennis
9. What’s something about you that not many people know?
I was a synchronized swimmer in High School
10. What do you like to do when you’re not working out at Longevity?
Traveling, tennis, gardening, and reading are a few.
11. What’s the next place on your travel bucket list?
Alaska
12. Favorite restaurant in Bloomington?
Uptown
Best of B-Town
We are excited to announce we have made the top 3 in the Best of B-Town contest for the following categories: fitness center, personal trainer, and yoga studio! The winners will be announced in September. We really appreciate all of your support and votes!
New Longevity Members
Welcome to Longevity Bloomington! It has been great having you all in class.