{"id":945,"date":"2019-03-24T19:09:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T23:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sudlatnid.com\/wp\/?p=945"},"modified":"2019-03-24T19:09:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T23:09:02","slug":"why-lifting-weights-can-be-so-potent-for-aging-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=945","title":{"rendered":"Why Lifting Weights Can Be So Potent for Aging Well"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>People who discovered that they enjoyed \nand felt capable of completing a weight-training session subsequently \njoined a new gym and showed up for workouts.CreditGetty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/03\/26\/well\/physed-weights3\/physed-weights3-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/gretchen-reynolds\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/03\/18\/multimedia\/author-gretchen-reynolds\/author-gretchen-reynolds-thumbLarge.png\" alt=\"Gretchen Reynolds\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/gretchen-reynolds\">Gretchen Reynolds<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>March 20, 2019<\/li><li><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dialog\/feed?app_id=9869919170&amp;link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F03%2F20%2Fwell%2Fmove%2Flifting-weights-exercise-older-aging-muscles-psychology.html&amp;smid=fb-share&amp;name=Why%20Lifting%20Weights%20Can%20Be%20So%20Potent%20for%20Aging%20Well&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F03%2F20%2Fwell%2Fmove%2Flifting-weights-exercise-older-aging-muscles-psychology.html&amp;text=Why%20Lifting%20Weights%20Can%20Be%20So%20Potent%20for%20Aging%20Well\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"mailto:?subject=NYTimes.com%3A%20Why%20Lifting%20Weights%20Can%20Be%20So%20Potent%20for%20Aging%20Well&amp;body=From%20The%20New%20York%20Times%3A%0A%0AWhy%20Lifting%20Weights%20Can%20Be%20So%20Potent%20for%20Aging%20Well%0A%0APeople%20who%20discovered%20that%20they%20enjoyed%20and%20felt%20capable%20of%20completing%20a%20weight-training%20session%20subsequently%20joined%20a%20new%20gym%20and%20showed%20up%20for%20workouts.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F03%2F20%2Fwell%2Fmove%2Flifting-weights-exercise-older-aging-muscles-psychology.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weight\n training by older people may build not only strength and muscle mass \nbut also motivation and confidence, potentially spurring them to \ncontinue exercising, according to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29878445\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">interesting new study<\/a> of the emotional impacts of lifting weights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\n findings intimate that people worried that they might be too old or \ninept to start resistance training should perhaps try it, to see how \ntheir bodies and minds respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We already have plenty of evidence, of course, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/23\/well\/move\/the-best-exercise-for-aging-muscles.html?module=inline\">weight training can help us to age well<\/a>.\n By our early 40s, most of us are losing muscle mass, at a rate of about\n 5 percent a decade, with the decline often precipitating a long slide \ntoward frailty and dependence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But  older people who lift weights can slow or reverse that descent, studies  show. In multiple experiments, older people who start to lift weights  typically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/09\/03\/well\/live\/preventing-muscle-loss-among-the-elderly.html?module=inline\">gain muscle mass and strength<\/a>, as well as better <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/06\/21\/upshot\/why-you-should-exercise-no-not-to-lose-weight.html?module=inline\">mobility<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/well.blogs.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/21\/lifting-weights-twice-a-week-may-aid-the-brain\/\">mental sharpness<\/a> and metabolic health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But lifting \nhelps only those who try it, and statistics indicate that barely 17 \npercent of older Americans regularly lift weights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So,\n as part of a larger study of weight training and the elderly, \nscientists at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland recently decided to\n see if they could discover how weight training changes the minds as \nwell as the musculature of people who had not done it before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To\n start, they turned to 81 older men and women who were part of their \nhealth database and who had agreed to begin resistance training. These \nvolunteers were all between the ages of 65 and 75 and, like many Finns, \nhealthy and physically active. But they did not lift weights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For\n the full study, they began a twice-weekly program of supervised, \nfull-body resistance training at the university to familiarize \nparticipants with proper technique and build a base of strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After\n three months, the group was randomly assigned to continue training \nonce, twice or three times a week, while a separate, untrained group \nserved as controls. Periodically, the researchers checked the \nvolunteers\u2019 strength, fitness and metabolic health, and also their \nattitudes about the workouts, including whether they found them daunting\n or inviting and how difficult it was for the volunteers to find the \ntime and resolve to show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But  older people who lift weights can slow or reverse that descent, studies  show. In multiple experiments, older people who start to lift weights  typically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/09\/03\/well\/live\/preventing-muscle-loss-among-the-elderly.html?module=inline\">gain muscle mass and strength<\/a>, as well as better <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/06\/21\/upshot\/why-you-should-exercise-no-not-to-lose-weight.html?module=inline\">mobility<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/well.blogs.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/21\/lifting-weights-twice-a-week-may-aid-the-brain\/\">mental sharpness<\/a> and metabolic health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/28821427\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">routine lasted for six months<\/a>, by which time the people lifting weights had almost all gained strength and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30774600\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">improved various markers of their health<\/a>, even if they had lifted only once a week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But\n then, after the months of supervised lifting, the exercisers abruptly \nwere on their own. The researchers explained that they could no longer \nhave access to the university facilities and provided them with \ninformation about low-cost, suitable gyms in the area. But any \nsubsequent training would be at their own volition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\n researchers waited six months and then contacted the volunteers to see \nwho was still lifting and how often. They repeated those interviews \nafter an additional six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They \nfound, to their surprise, that a year after the formal study had ended, \nalmost half of the volunteers still were lifting weights at least once a\n week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe had estimated a rate of 30\n percent,\u201d says Tiia Kekalainen, a project researcher at the University \nof Jyvaskyla who led the psychological study with the senior author, \nSimon Walker, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also \nsurprising, the researchers discovered little direct correlation between\n muscle and motivation. The people who had gained the most strength or \nmuscle mass during the study were not necessarily those most likely to \nstick to the training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, it  was those who had come to feel most competent in the gym. If someone\u2019s  self-efficacy, which is a measure of confidence, had risen substantially  during the study, he or she usually kept lifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In effect, Ms. \nKekalainen says, people who discovered that they enjoyed and felt \ncapable of completing a weight-training session subsequently sought out \nand joined a new gym and showed up for workouts, despite no longer \nreceiving nudges from the researchers or encouragement and companionship\n from their fellow volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey found out that resistance training is their cup of tea,\u201d Ms. Kekalainen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most\n of them also told the researchers that weight training had provided \nthem with renewed confidence in their physical abilities beyond the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey could do things that they thought they could not do before,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of\n course, about half of the volunteers had told her and the other \nresearchers that \u201cthey preferred other types of exercise,\u201d Ms. \nKekalainen says, and those men and women, for the most part, no longer \nlifted weights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ms. Kekalainen and \nher colleagues hope in future studies to explore the issues of what drew\n some people to the lifting and left others uninspired, and how \nweight-training routines might be structured to appeal to the skeptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For\n now, people interested in starting to lift weights should look for \nclasses or trainers specializing in beginners and learn to lift safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But\n the overarching lesson of the study, she says, is that to discover how \nyou feel about weight training, you need to weight train.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People who discovered that they enjoyed and felt capable of completing a weight-training session subsequently joined a new gym and showed up for workouts.CreditGetty Images By Gretchen Reynolds March 20, 2019 Weight training by older&hellip;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"excerpt-readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=945\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","odd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}