you should weight trainingThere are many reasons for this—it would have been a completely different book if it had been written. During the growth process of many people, “retraining” may be something that must be done in physical education class in school days, or because our competitors are practicing, so we have to practice too. Beyond that, the average person would not even consider weight training.
We now know that retraining not only trains muscles, but also affects the most basic cellular level of the body. As we get older, some structural changes take place at the cellular level, making the life of the elderly face great challenges. It often feels unavoidable, but believe it or not, there are things we can do to slow the aging of our body’s cells.
Once over the age of forty, most people have more or less signs of aging, and these signs can be mainly divided into the following elements:
● Accuracy
● Speed
● Range of activities (Range)
● Endurance
● Coordination
● Stability
● Strength
● Flexibility
These characteristics of all aspects of the body will affect our daily life. As we grow older, whether the ability to independently complete various daily activities can be maintained depends on the strength of the above-mentioned physical characteristics. In fact, too little activity can gradually lead to degeneration, which may eventually make the body weak.
This fragile state is caused by dysfunction in daily activities, when the body can be easily injured. This is also the same as “Sarcopenia” (sarcopenia). As the name implies, sarcopenia refers to too little muscle mass, resulting in dysfunctional daily activities. After getting older, muscle mass is easily lost.
Enough of the bad news, now for the good news: resistance training stops aging in and out of your body immediately and brings about all kinds of good changes over time, it’s like your fountain of youth All change.
Immediate Effects of Weight Training
● Stabilize blood sugar—Exercise can help your body regulate blood sugar levels. There are many benefits, but the most important thing is that the high and low blood sugar will not affect your physiological functions, and the body will have a relatively stable source of energy.
● Increases “feel good” hormones – These hormones, like adrenaline and noradrenaline, are stimulated by exercise, giving you instant energy and boosting your mood.
● Improves sleep—Studies have shown that regular exercise can help improve sleep quality at all ages, especially in the morning.
● Increase your metabolism—Increasing your metabolism is great for weight loss, and if “weight loss” is what you’re trying to achieve, increasing your metabolism also means burning more calories during your daily activities.
● Lower blood pressure—It is normal to be diagnosed with high blood pressure when you are older. We or our elderly friends have this problem more or less, but no matter in the short term or in the long term, exercise can help control blood pressure.
● Relieves Arthritis Pain – If you start exercising with pain, the training may not seem to be what you expected, but as you continue to strengthen the muscles around that joint, the pain will improve within two weeks of starting training. Plus, when you’re exercising, there’s more blood flow to your muscles and joints, which also helps reduce pain and stiffness.
Long-term effects of weight training
Training can improve nearly every function of the body over time, and it doesn’t take much to improve. One of the most important benefits of training is “more protection” rather than the obvious goals like weight loss.
The fact that many of the benefits we get from training is difficult to observe or measure, and because of this, it can sometimes be hard to find motivation to train, even when we know it is good for our bodies and minds.
cardiovascular function
For people who do not exercise regularly, cardiovascular function declines with age. Cardiovascular function involves how much blood your heart pumps through your body and how much oxygen you get to your muscles. Training improves your heart efficiency, which means you not only get more done, but it also protects your heart while making you feel good.
Improve lung capacity and breathing power
Your breathing efficiency declines with age, partly due to degeneration of the discs in your spine, which affect the muscles around your lungs. This means your lung capacity will be smaller, and you may never realize it. Exercise can help you slow down the rate of spinal degeneration and allow you to breathe better and more easily.
blood pressure control
Blood pressure increases with age, with some studies confirming that approximately 75 percent of Americans over the age of seventy have high blood pressure.
The good news is: Studies have shown that the exercise ability of middle-aged and elderly people is a very strong predictor, that is to say, there is a close relationship between a person’s exercise ability and a chronic disease such as hypertension. Seniors have high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and other problems. The other good news is that all exercise training has a blood pressure suppressing effect, so even an extra few minutes of walking each day can make a difference.
Strength and Endurance
Now, we’re getting to the real benefits of training! Because it may be hard to feel changes in cardiovascular function or lung capacity, but you can definitely feel stronger or healthier after training.
We all know that strength and endurance decline with age, with loss of muscle function often due to loss of muscle mass. Here comes the important point: For people aged 30 to 70, if they sit for a long time, their muscle mass will decrease by about 22 to 23%.
Loss of muscle mass can lead to balance problems, difficulty walking, sluggish reflexes (think about holding yourself back up in time if you trip or slip), and fat gain, all of which predispose you to prediabetes.
However, this does not necessarily happen to senior citizens. Strength training can slow age-related decline in muscle function, researchers have found. Even adding just two pounds of muscle can make a huge difference, and training can make a difference no matter how old you are.
reduce inflammation
In recent years, you may have heard that scientists have discovered the effects of “inflammation” on the body. When the body is chronically inflamed, it increases the risk of chronic disease and can alter how the body responds and heals, for example, from infection, injury, surgery or cancer.
There are some common habit problems among the elderly (such as sedentary), these problems will increase the level of inflammation in the body, which may lead to overweight or obesity. The reason is that as you get older and have arthritis or other joint-related pain, it becomes more difficult to move around. In order to protect yourself, older friends live a sedentary life, and the inflammation and pain become more serious as a result. , It is also more difficult to move, so it enters a vicious circle.
Strength training can help elderly friends reduce the occurrence of inflammation, so that they will not fall into such a cycle.
softer body
You may not normally think about how flexible your body is, but you need to know that tight muscles can have a big impact on how your body functions and feels. Softness is used in everyday life, such as tying shoelaces, reaching from a tall shelf, folding clothes while sitting on the floor, or turning your head to look behind you when reversing your car.
Flexibility not only helps maintain good posture and circulatory system, it also helps us relieve stress and pain (think stretching or yoga), it gives us a better sense of balance and prevents injuries.
As we age, our muscles get smaller and lose some muscle fibers, and our tendons lose water and become less supple. This is what causes us to feel stiff, especially when we wake up in the morning.
Flexibility can be improved through both stretching and strength training. After the softness is improved, not only the flexibility of the body is improved, the range of motion is increased, but also everything in daily life becomes easier.
Activate the brain
In addition to helping your body and quality of life, exercise and strength training may also have a protective effect on the brain, which may surprise you. The following effects can be achieved through exercise:
● Prevent or slow down mental illnesses such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
● Relaxation and Stress Relief—Exercise lowers stress hormones in the body and stimulates “feel-good” chemicals in the brain. Meaning your brain produces natural pain relievers and mood elixirs.
● Improve brain function—elderly friends who are exercising can process various information in life more efficiently than those who do not exercise.
● More vitality—when we accomplish something, we are sure to feel satisfied with ourselves, feel stronger and more in control, and increase self-confidence and self-efficacy.
● Be more integrated into the society—the stronger you become and the more things you can do, the more you can go out of your home to participate in the operation of society and connect with other communities. This gives us a sense of belonging, a benefit that contributes more than the chemicals in your brain that make you “feel good.”
● Greater resilience—a strong mind and body can help you cope with life changes such as retirement, the death of a friend or loved one, health problems, and more.
How much exercise should you do at least to achieve the above effect? I recommend training about 10-30 minutes a day, everyone should be able to do it every day, just a little time can help you improve your brain, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, sleep, weight management, blood sugar, energy, mood, strength, Everything from sex life to stamina. In addition to these physical help, it can also make you more confident, energetic and independent mentally.
Isn’t time spent exercising or training much better than spending time in the doctor’s office? Absolutely so!