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June 24, 1997
"The effects of weight training on the elderly are quite dramatic."
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Fiber supplements for the frequent traveler?
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Pumping Iron at 70 . . . ?
I enjoyed weight
training during my youth. I haven't bothered with it for
years since I walk and jog. Lately I've read that it's
been found to be very helpful for people of all ages,
including the elderly. Now that I'm approaching 70, what
do you think about trying the weights again?
I wouldn't discontinue
your aerobic activities, but you're right, weight and
strength training is becoming widely accepted as an
activity throughout life, for both men and women
Some of the advantages over simple endurance activities are increasing bone density, increasing metabolic activity, improving overall muscle strength, lessening the risk of adult-onset diabetes, and even decreasing the discomfort of the most common type of arthritis. Athletes have shown that the best way to protect a joint is to strengthen the muscles around it.
The effects of weight training on the elderly are quite dramatic. A 1994 report in the New England Journal of Medicine, "Exercise Training and Nutritional Supplementation for Physical Frailty in Very Elderly people," showed that seventy, eighty, and ninety-year-olds who trained with weights doubled their leg strength within a few months. This enabled them to increase their overall daily activity by 35 percent. Several who had been using walkers were able to get by with a cane after only 8-9 weeks.
A caution -- when returning to weight training at your age or starting a program, weight loads and repetitions should be increased very gradually to avoid injuries.
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