Strength Training for Baby Boomers:

Why is strength training important for Baby Boomers? A couple reasons...... one, keeping your metabolism from slowing down too much.

Remember when you were back in your twenties and possibly even your thirties, when you didn't have to do that much to stay looking young? Well, your metabolism probably started slowing down in your mid to late 30's, and now it takes some work to keep your metabolism elevated.

This is where strength (resistance) training comes into play. Building lean muscle tissue with resistance training is key to lowering your bodyfat levels. You naturally lose muscle as you get older, so to keep as much as possible takes some work.

Strength training is also crucial to fat loss. Cardiovascular exercise is usually promoted as necessary for burning fat, but it is not the "end all, be all" to fat loss. You can burn plenty of fat with interval strength training.

This is where you would go from one exercise to the next with little to no rest in between exercises. For example, you would go from an upper body exercise to a lower body exercise and repeating this type of sequence.

By using exercises that involve multiple muscles - such as pushups, assisted pullups, squats, and lunges - you burn more calories. This also enables you to get a cardiovascular effect, because your heart rate is elevated the entire session. This is a little different than routines that isolate different bodyparts on different days.

With my clients, I combine bodyweight exercises, with dumbbells and resistance bands, along with the Power Plate. A Power Plate is a whole body vibration platform that causes reflex muscle contractions to occur, from 25-50 muscle contractions a second, depending on the frequency.

This type of workout allows you to work the entire body in about 25 minutes, making it pretty efficient. It also allows you to get fat loss results in 2-3 sessions per week, when combined with some walking or bike riding on the other days. These routines also involve plenty of core training, which is important for preventing low back injuries.

Another reason to do some resistance training is for joint strength and bone mass. Its no secret that women are prone to osteoporosis after menopause, but men can also lose some bone mass if they are too sedentary. Strength training is needed for maintaining maximal bone density, as well as keeping their joints strong and stable.

Strength is also a big reason for loss of mobility as you age. Getting up from a chair, going up stairs, and keeping your balance as you walk is mostly about how strong your muscles are. Again, if you don't do anything to prevent this, you are taking an unnecessary risk.

This is also where a Power Plate comes into play, as it builds strength, stability, and coordination into your lower body. It does this without spending hours and hours at a gym or healthclub.




If you want to read about resistance training slowing down the aging process, click here.