If you aren’t strength training, you should be! It is never too late to start strength training and it will bring numerous benefits at any age. 

Whether you are inactive or active, like exercise or hate exercise, it can make an incredibly positive impact on your life. 

Let’s go over all the ways strength training can help you:

• Improve your sleep

• Increase cognition

• Increase your energy and metabolism 

• Increase longevity

• Improve your posture

• Increase your confidence

• Maintain independence as you age

• Increase bone density which reduces risk of osteoporosis

• Preserve and enhance muscle mass which progressively decreases with age if you don’t do anything about it

• Improve quality of life

• Increase mobility

• Better your balance which decreases risk of falling

• Improve ability to do daily activities (things like carrying groceries, walking, getting up from a chair, getting up and down from the floor, going up and down stairs, housework, gardening, etc)

• Manage and/or prevent chronic conditions such as arthritis, back pain, heart disease, depression, diabetes, osteoporosis and more!

• Decrease blood pressure

• Prevent injuries

• Enhance your pickleball or golf game

• Be an active grandparent

The good thing about strength training is that it doesn’t have to take a lot of time and it can be done anywhere.  2-3x/week is recommended. 30 minutes is recommended, but even 10 minutes can make a difference. There are many strength training exercises that can be done solely with your body weight. It is usually best to start with bodyweight exercises and then progress to adding resistance bands or free weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, ankle weights  and suspension trainers (like TRX). 

Resistance bands are great because they are lightweight, don’t take up much space, are inexpensive, can be used at home or when traveling and can be used in a variety of ways targeting all large muscles groups. 

Strength training is not just for people that want big muscles or want to look good. It is for everyone and every body. It should not be painful so it is about finding ways to make it work best for you and your body. If you have good muscle strength you will be able to function at a much higher level (doing all the things you want and need to do) for much longer. 

If you are unsure of how to start strength training or if what you are doing includes strength training contact A to Z Personal Wellness.