Strength training, especially with
weights, has always had great detractors who consider that it is an exercise
only suitable for young men who want to "get hunky". Those who reason
like this show that they are very poorly informed. It is not recommended for
children, it is true, but the great news is that it is not harmful for women or
for the elderly.
According to specialists, and
multiple investigations show, workout
exercises with weights are necessary. Have
you heard of sarcopenia? They are necessary and mandatory from a certain age. Why?
What can strength exercises contribute? Well, they are the only possible
medicine against sarcopenia that, although it seems the name of a skin disease,
actually refers to an abnormal loss of strength and muscle mass, which makes
daily tasks difficult.
Weights are the best medicine to slow the loss of muscle mass and strength
Although it has always been
associated with age, considering it part of normal aging because its main
symptoms are weakness in the muscles and lack of physical strength, it can also
affect very sedentary people. Currently it could affect 30% of people over 60
years old, and more than 50% of those over 80 years old, beyond physical
activity.
Muscle mass decreases after 30
The muscle mass gradually decreases
between 3% and 8% every decade from the age of 30, accelerating after the age
of 60. This produces a progressive decrease in strength that contributes
greatly to disability and loss of independence in the elderly. And therefore,
to counteract it, it is necessary to work muscle strength with exercise. More
than starting at a specific age, what is needed is a regular work plan such as bodyweight
ppl routine, and not sporadic, unplanned and
random exercises, which do not help to achieve the objectives of the patients.
You do not have to wait to feel that
weakness to start lifting weights. You have to start as soon as possible. At
twenty, at thirty ... but above all it must be borne in mind that after 40 they
are absolutely essential because the risk of sarcopenia begins at 50, which is
when we tend to be more sedentary.
You don't have to be a tarzan all of a sudden
Strengthening the body with physical
exercise, like push pull
legs bodyweight, and quality nutrition must be
taken very seriously, but you must not do crazy things either. That is to say,
it is not a good idea to start lifting weights from one day to the next without
the help of a professional and without climbing. We need to do that strength
work on a daily basis, constantly and gradually. The idea is not to suddenly
start lifting a lot of weight, but to do work and gradual evolution.
But, although it seems confirmed that age should not be the problem, but precisely the motivation to get to work on strength, there is another question that researchers also seem to be beginning to resolve: To lose weight, is aerobic exercise better or the anaerobic? In other words, is it better to run or weights? And although it may sound strange, a study published a year ago by the journal Obesity solved this almost eternal dilemma in favor of weights.
According to this work, in which researchers analyzed the physical activity and
waist measurements of 10,500 men over 40 between 1996 and 2008, those who
lifted weights did not gain as much weight as those who ran or bicycles. And
those who led sedentary lives, of course, were the hardest hit.
