Sensible Fitness: Pumpin' Throughout the Ages
It's never too late to start lifting weights, whether you're 17 or 75. But safety is key. Our fitness expert gives you the tips on keeping safe while strength training. 

Question:
I see my parents' ability to take care of themselves diminishing, and I'm curious if it is safe for the elderly to lift weights for more strength?
— Elizabeth

Answer:
The senior population needs strength training more than any other group of people. When people are young, vanity is often the primary driving force for exercising, but as people hit 50 and beyond, the driving force for exercising is usually a better quality of life. As senior citizens, weight training is critical to maintaining strength and the independence that accompanies it.

It is heartbreaking to see parents that have given so much start to decline physically and/or mentally. Often your parents are living in a home that they have been in for years and it holds a lifetime of memories. The threat of losing their ability to take care of themselves and being forced to leave their home can be a crushing blow to their overall well-being. As a physical therapist assistant, I have plenty of experience in nursing homes and have seen the devastating effects firsthand as people lose independence simply because they became too weak to take care of themselves in their own home.

The aches and pains of aging, combined with the loss of physical ability to do the things they used to do, often sends the elderly into a tailspin of depression and a loss for the desire to live. Being strong can fight off both the aches and pains and the loss of functional ability. I have mentioned repeatedly in my column that strength training is the only true fountain of youth, and this especially holds true with the aging population.

Painful joints can lead to a viscous cycle of becoming weak and debilitated. A person's joints hurt so they tend to become less active to avoid the pain. When you are less active, you use your muscles less, and they start to waste away. Because part of the natural aging process is a loss of muscle mass, decreased activity greatly accelerates the loss of muscle in the elderly. The best way to avoid painful joints is to strengthen the muscles that surround them. When the muscles around a joint are weak, it places all the stress directly on the joint, which aggravates the joint. This is especially true with arthritic joints. Our muscles are designed to support the joint, but they need strength to do so.

A properly established strength training program is very safe for older people and offers many more benefits than just strong muscles, as it is mentally uplifting. It gets mom and dad out of the house and into a healthy social atmosphere of a fitness center where new friendships are created, which is great stimulation. As their strength starts increasing and they are able to do activities that recently were lost, they get a more positive outlook on life and feel like they have more to contribute, which gives them a sense of being needed. Nothing makes a parent feel better than to be needed and able to contribute rather than their feeling like they are being a burden.

I want to close by sharing an except of one of our TV shows that spotlights Carol Kormelink, who came to Sensible Fitness as a 70-year-old with a goal of getting up off the floor independently. She reached her goal in a very short time, and now at 75 years young, she is still popping up off the floor by herself. In addition to general strengthening, we also work on her balance a great deal to avoid falls. She lives alone in the home that she raised her children in and is maintaining her strength to stay there.

Click on the play button below to see Carol in action!

Doug Gibson
		About the author:
		Doug Gibson is a columnist for Cincy Chic and President of Sensible Fitness Personal Training Center in Blue Ash, Ohio, which specializes in women’s fitness programs. E-mail him at doug@sensiblefitness.com.
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Last update: 29-09-2008 13:57

Published in : Magazine Items, Health