Yes, You Can Get Stronger Even if You're Old, Older, Oldest

You can build muscle strength and endurance at any age. There's no question about that.  I was reading over some research and found myself on a news website instead of an academic one where they were trying to dispute this well-known fact.

What would be the point of that?

The fact is, progressive weight training, whether using your own body-weight or lifting weights, makes anyone stronger, at any age.  And please don't believe ABC or HealthDay, because you can get stronger at any age.

If you want to get stronger, lift heavier weights.  And, no, 10 pounds is not a heavy weight.

Toned muscles is a thing - it's just not a strong thing. It's a look thing. So if you want to achieve a bikini body go ahead and go to a fat free diet, do lots of cardio, and lift light weights.

But if you want a strong body, you have to lift heavier weight. You have to keep challenging your muscles.

Start with a light weight.  Do two or three exercises for each muscle group. Lift that weight 8-12 times.  If it's easy and that 12 time you lift it is still easy, and if you can even lift it 15 times, then you need to get a heavier weight.

The 12 time you lift should be really hard.  But in your first week, start light. This gives your tendons and ligaments time to adjust also.

You have to be progressive in your approach.  You have to keep adding a little bit of weight every time - see if you can lift more.

If you can't lift the weight at least 6  times, the weight is too heavy for you, if you're a beginner.  That's just to avoid injury.  Eventually, you'll want to do some lifts with weights that are so heavy that it is really hard to lift them more than 3 or 4 times.

Body weight training is a really good way to start getting stronger.  Post in the comment section if you would like to see some good beginner exercises to get you started.

I'm posting a link to some of the original research on people over 90 who were able to improve their walking and increase the strength in their legs.  They threw away their walkers and canes.

Do you lift weights?




JAMA. 1990 Jun 13;263(22):3029-34.
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/leebrown/PDF%20Files/Academic/Fiatarone-strength%20training%20old%20people.pdf