Resistance Training for Senior Citizens
By Randi Morse
Moving into your senior years can feel a bit scary, especially when your body starts to feel foreign to you. People who are entering their senior years need to be as healthy as they possibly can, which may include starting new habits like resistance training.
Resistance Training
Resistance training is a type of exercise that engages the muscles in your body. Great examples of resistance training include weight lifting and any sort of exercise that strengthens your muscles. A recent published article in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise discovered that lifting weights for an hour, or even less, each week can help keep the heart healthy. It can significantly reduce the risk of a stroke or a heart attack, two conditions that senior citizens are more prone to. The study showed that by engaging in resistance training you can reduce the possibility of heart problems anywhere from 40 to 70 percent.
Starting Resistance Training
One of the great things about resistance training is that it's fairly easy to start. Aerobic activity can be intimidating to start, especially if you've never been someone who enjoys aerobic activity. Resistance training is much less intimidating. In fact, you can even start resistance training with a soup can! Take a soup can and hold it in one hand. With your palm facing down, hold your arm up to shoulder level and hold the can steady while you count to 30. Then slowly lower your arm. Do this for at least five repetitions and then switch hands.
Once you've gotten a little comfortable with resistance training you can up your game with the use of exercise equipment. You can get weights for your ankles and do exercises that strengthen your legs, or resistance bands which allow you to do a wide array of different types of exercises in the comfort of your own home. If you find that resistance training makes you feel great and you want to get more involved with it, schedule a time to visit a local gym and arrange to have a personal trainer help you learn how to use the equipment. Gym equipment can be pretty intimidating to look at, but the gym's trainer should be able to help you understand how everything works and may also be able to help set you up with the start of a resistance training routine.
If you've never tried resistance training, go ahead and give it a shot. It's great for people of all ages, but it's especially helpful and healthy for senior citizens.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Avon, Ohio.