Exercise & Health: Giving Your Muscles A Regular Workout Has Multiple Health Benefits

According to a new US report from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only a very small percentage of older adults are doing enough to keep their muscles strong.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Dr. Judy Kruger, a CDC specialist in elderly care and chronic disease prevention, noted that exercises designed to strengthen muscles (such as weight training or resistance training) yield several benefits, including:

• Reducing the risk of falls and fractures
• Increasing endurance
• Promoting healthy bone density
• Improving insulin sensitivity

But even though strength exercises promote general good health and make it easier for older people to carry out normal daily activities, a 2001 survey revealed that only 12 percent of people aged 65 to 74 perform this type of exercise on a regular basis.

Bonus number one
Another important benefit provided by strength training is an improvement of exercise capacity.

If you have a high exercise capacity, then generally speaking you're in good health. But people who rate the lowest exercise capacities have a much higher risk of chronic diseases. In a previous e-Alert I told you about research from the University of Florida (UF) in the US that showed how resistance exercise may have a dramatic impact on exercise capacity - particularly in those who are over the age of 60.

The UF study measured exercise capacity and aerobic power in subjects 60 to 85 years of age before and after six months of resistance training exercise.

The group of 62 volunteers were randomly assigned to either a low-intensity exercise group or a high-intensity exercise group. Muscular strength was assessed with eight resistance exercises: leg press, leg curl, knee extension, chest press, seated row, overhead press, triceps dip, and biceps curl. Subjects performed resistance exercises three times per week for six months.

Throughout the testing sessions, the loads used on the resistance equipment were increased for each subject as their rate of exertion improved.

At the end of the study, researchers reported that both low- and high-intensity resistance exercise significantly improved the participants' exercise capacities.

People in the high-intensity group increased their oxygen peak by 20% and their exercise capacity by 23%. And taking some of the researchers by surprise, the participants in the low-intensity group saw even greater gains: they increased their oxygen peak an average of 23.5% and boosted their exercise capacity by 26%.

In other words, you don't have to push yourself to intense levels of exercise to get the best results.

And, behind door number two...
Obviously, weight training increases muscle strength, but older people get yet another benefit: prevention of sarcopenia - the age-related loss of skeletal muscle.

A recent report from the International Longevity Centre-USA, details a variety of studies of subjects aged 60 to 96 who overcame the loss of strength and body mass associated with sarcopenia by using weight training regimens that lasted from 8 to 12 weeks.

In as little as two sessions a week, most subjects increased their strength, while also improving balance and mobility. Subjects who continued their weight training regimens also increased metabolic rate and the ability to climb stairs.

Needless to say, when weight training or resistance training is begun early on, the less likelihood there is that sarcopenia will be an issue as the years go by. And as the UF study shows, you don't have to pump iron like a bodybuilder to reap healthy benefits.

Exercise specialists with the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) in the US advise older people to start with light weights - only one or two pounds - and then gradually increase the weight according to whatever feels comfortable. And Dr. Kruger also points out that trips to the gym aren't necessary. A few simple exercises that are easy to do at home are all that's required to improve muscle strength.