Weight lifting, regardless of your age, can be a game-changer if done regularly. It helps build strength and muscle mass, along with confidence and motivation. In fact, a new study shows that weightlifting has an effect on people emotionally, making them likely to continue exercising. According to this research, people who started resistance training initially thought they were too old or unfit to continue. However, their mind and body felt stronger, so they continued to weight lift.
Lots of evidence shows that weight training can make you age gracefully. Once you reach your late 30s and early 40s, you will start to notice yourself losing muscle mass. Every decade, 5 percent of muscle mass is lost. This decline eventually leads to dependence, weakness, and frailty.
The one thing you can do to reverse or slow down this process is to start lifting weights. There are many studies that prove that people who start weightlifting at an earlier age and continue into adulthood gain strength and muscle mass, along with superior mobility, mental health, as well as metabolic health.
How Weight Training Trains Your Mind And Body
A study was conducted by scientists at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland to figure out if resistance training has any long-term effects on the mind and muscle structure of those who had never tried it before.
The study looked at 81 old men and women who had no problem with starting resistance training at the university. These volunteers were aged between 65 and 75. However, all of them were physically active and healthy. They did not lift weights.
A twice-weekly program was introduced where the participants started full-body resistance training. They were supervised at all times to avoid accidents, and slowly, they learned to familiarize themselves with the correct technique and posture.
After three months, this group was randomly assigned to train every now and then- this could be once, twice, or even thrice a week. A new, untrained group was introduced as controls. Volunteers would check up on the health of the participants to see how strong they felt, recording fitness, metabolic health, and mindset, along with how they felt about their workouts. Remember, these participants had never trained before in their lives. It was important to check whether they still found working out daunting or if they had started to enjoy it more.
This routine went on for six months so that participants could gain strength. By the end of this time, it was found that their health had also gotten a lot better, even if they were only weightlifting once a week.
