Boost Aging with Muscle Building: The Underrated Benefit of Resistance Training

Maintaining Muscular Health for a Better Quality of Life

While we frequently invest in trendy workout gear, gym memberships, or regular strolls for our fitness, it’s equally critical to focus on enhancing our muscular strength. This becomes even more vital as we age since maintaining muscle mass can significantly benefit our lifestyle.

David Scott, an exercise scientist at Deakin University, emphasizes the importance of strength training in an interview with ABC RN’s Life Matters. Not only does it lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer, but it also significantly impacts your capacity to lead a healthy life as you grow older.

The Function and Significance of Muscles

Gabrielle Lyon, a US-based functional medicine practitioner and author, contends that skeletal muscle, the muscle we utilize to move our bones, often gets a bad reputation. However, it is more than just a bodily feature for showing off at the gym. In fact, healthy skeletal muscle contributes greatly to physical fitness and good athletic performance. It also plays a significant role in our health and longevity as we age.

One of the primary functions of skeletal muscle is to help us move around. It also serves as an important site for glucose disposal, which helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels and lower the risk of metabolic illnesses such as diabetes.

The Aging Muscles: Challenges and Solutions

Sarcopenia, the process of losing muscle mass and strength with aging, generally kicks in during our 30s and 40s and accelerates in our 60s, 70s, and 80s. This can pose serious challenges in our daily life, such as managing a house or a garden. It has also been linked to cognitive decline, as mentioned in a research study.

However, even with aging muscles, you can still maintain a healthy, strong body through regular activity and strength training. The focus should not be on becoming bigger but on enhancing functionality and independence.

Building Muscle: Where to Start?

Include strength training in your exercise routines at least two days a week, for about 30 minutes to an hour each time. You can try various strength-building exercises, even at home using your body weight, such as squats or the sit-to-stand exercise.

If you’re using weights, start by lifting about 40% of the maximum weight you can lift for each exercise. Then gradually increase it to about 80% as you improve.

Reframing Your Approach Towards Exercise

Ella Mason, a gym coach and owner of Pony Club Gym in Melbourne’s north, mentions that many people avoid exercise as they believe doing workouts less than three times a week is pointless. However, any movement or routine is beneficial. She emphasizes the importance of finding a routine that’s doable and can be maintained over a lifetime.

Contrary to popular beliefs, all bodies are capable of performing all movements given the right opportunity and information. Confidence and support are essential to enable this.