We all know that eating healthy is important to combat the effects of aging, but what else should we be doing? Every day I get asked about fillers to plump up lines and other procedures to make one look better. People tend to forget about what else they should be doing to better their overall health and combat the effects of aging.
STRENGTH TRAINING
Many are intimidated by just the thought of strength training, but the benefits are well known and well worth the effort. Muscle mass drops by about 4% each decade after the age of 30. That is a lot of muscle loss! Strength training is the best way to reduce this loss in addition to keeping you fit and functional. In fact, many believe that strength training is actually more important than aerobic exercise to slow the aging process. Common sense tells us that the more strength that we have, the more things that we will be able to do. In short, strength matters.
Are you still not sold on the benefits of strength training? Let’s look a little deeper into this.
- Strength training burns calories and boosts your metabolism.
The more muscle that you have, the more calories you burn.
2. Strength training strengthens muscles and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
This is especially important for women, who are most at risk of having brittle bones. Lifting heavy weights stimulates bone production. People often confuse weight lifting with heavy weight lifting. What is the difference? Doing squats with a weight in which one can only do 12 reps if very different than using a weight where one can do 30 reps.
3. The stronger one is the lower the risk of falls or injury
As we lose muscle, the risk of falls or injury increases. In addition, if we are stronger we maintain better balance, further reducing the risk of falls.
4. A lower body fat percentage lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Get rid of that belly fat and you will be healthier. Period. You don’t even have to pick up a weight to enjoy these benefits. You can perform exercises without a single weight such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, and tricep dips.
