Strength Training for Seniors Important For Future Mobility
Ian C. Langtree - Content Writer/Editor for Disabled World
Published: 2011/06/13 - Updated: 2024/06/10
Publication Type: Informative
Topic: Weight and Strength Training (Publications Database)
Page Content: Synopsis Introduction Main Item
Synopsis: Maintaining muscle strength in old age is important in order to maintain mobility and manage everyday tasks independently.
• In the coming decades, the importance of maintaining the ability to work and to make a living will increase, as will the need for independence in everyday life and leisure activities.
• Currently, the proportion of elderly persons who practice strength (resistance) training is only about 10-15%.
Introduction
Did you know that most people lose 30% of their muscle strength between the ages of 50 and 70 years? Maintaining muscle strength in old age is enormously important in order to maintain mobility and to be able to lead an independent life and manage everyday tasks independently.
Main Item
Frank Mayer and colleagues from the University of Potsdam conclude that progressive strength (resistance) training counteracts muscular atrophy in old age (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2011; 108(21): 359-64).
The authors investigated the extent of the effects that can be achieved by strength (resistance) training in elderly persons and which intensities of exercise are useful and possible in persons older than 60 years. They found that regular strength (resistance) training increased muscle strength, reduced muscular atrophy, and that tendons and bones adapt too.
Findings Included:
- These successes in turn had a preventive effect in terms of avoiding falls and injuries.
- Greater intensities of training yielded greater effects than moderate and low intensities.
- In order to increase muscle mass, an intensity of 60-85% of the one-repetition-maximum is required.
- In order to increase rapidly available muscle force, higher intensities (>85%) are required.
- The optimum amount of exercise for healthy elderly persons is 3 to 4 training units per week.
In the coming decades, the importance of maintaining the ability to work and to make a living will increase, as will the need for independence in everyday life and leisure activities.
The increase in the retirement age to 67 years from 2012 means that one in three adults of working age will be older than 50 by 2020, and by 2050, the proportion of people older than 60 in the population will rise to an estimated 40%.
Currently, the proportion of elderly persons who practice strength (resistance) training is only about 10-15%.
1 - Increase In Craniofacial Injuries From Exercise and Weightlifting - The number of craniofacial injuries related to exercise and weightlifting have increased sharply over the past decade.
2 - Strength Training for Seniors Important For Future Mobility - Maintaining muscle strength in old age is important in order to maintain mobility and manage everyday tasks independently.
3 - Progressive Resistance Training Builds Muscle and Increases Strength - Resistance exercises increase lean muscle tissue and strength capacity so that people can function more readily in daily life.
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Cite This Page (APA): Langtree, I. C. (2011, June 13 - Last revised: 2024, June 10). Strength Training for Seniors Important For Future Mobility. Disabled World. Retrieved December 10, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/fitness/exercise/bodybuilding/strength.php
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