It's never too late to power up
It takes strength to get through the day. A trip to the grocery store can tax you beyond belief. Whether you're 18 or 88, you need to lift and carry those groceries, stretch to put them away in the cabinet, bend down to put vegetables in the crisper, and then bend down again to pick up any dropped cans.
You probably want to lie down for a nap afterward. Don't. How about opting for a more productive way to spend your time?
If you'd like to be able to power through your grocery excursions easier, listen closely: To be strong, you have to get strong.
Even cardiologists are recognizing the benefits of resistance training. Looking at a group of nursing-home patients who had done resistance training for a 10-week period, doctors were impressed with the results. Folks with an average age of 87 had improved their strength and were better able to climb stairs.
Resistance training includes lifting weights and can be added to a program that includes an aerobic activity, such as the walk you take after dinner.
And don't think that just because you've had heart problems, you're not able to do any type of lifting or movement anymore.
Quite the contrary!
A study of elderly female heart patients who had followed a 10-week regimen of resistance training showed incredible gains in strength. They showed a 43 percent increase in their muscle strength and about a 50 percent increase in the amount of distance they could cover in a six-minute walk!
Even patients with coronary heart disease can benefit, because they build up their muscles and overall strength.
Whether you're in a nursing home or your own home, you too can benefit by building up your muscles. And stronger muscles can actually help prevent falls, just by enabling you to have greater control of your movement.
As always, I recommend you talk to your doctor first to get the go-ahead before starting a program. I also believe that anyone new to exercise like this should work with a personal trainer in order to learn proper form.
