Treadmills and stair masters
are not enough, weight training keeps you young.
Starting
in their mid-30s, women tend to lose muscle in the amount of 1/3 to ¼ of a pound a year while simultaneously gaining a ½ pound
of fat Can this be prevented? YES!!!
According
to a study published by the International Journal of Sports Medicine, very experienced
swimmers and runners around the age of 70 were found to have about the same amount of muscle mass as sedentary people their
age. However, 70 year olds that had lifted weights regularly for more than a
decade had as much muscle mass as a 28 year old(1).
So
what does this mean to you? It means that if you are doing your regularly scheduled
walk, or that on-again-off-again routine on your treadmill, as your only source of exercise, you are doing nothing to preserve
your muscle mass. You are losing the same amount of muscle as your neighbor who
is doing absolutely nothing! Why do you need muscle? Muscle is highly active tissue that is responsible for nearly all metabolic functions of the body.(2) It is the reservoir for the bodies protein (amino acids) used
for fuel, recovery, organ function, immune function and metabolic rate.(2)(3) It determines the amount of anti-aging hormones our body secretes, (testosterone, estrogen, and growth
hormone), and when any metabolic demand is placed on the body, muscle is what is used as a catalyst.(2)(4) In short when people are ill and they do not have enough
muscle to meet all these demands, they die.(2)(5)
Further
more what about your bone mass. Is osteoporosis preventable, or is every woman
going to have to face it eventually? According to the Journal of American Medical Association with regular strength training (weight lifting),there is no reason why pre-menopausal women should lose bone mass. Furthermore
for post menopausal women, most, if not all, bone loss can be prevented through regular strength training and healthy eating, and some bone loss can be regained!(1)
These
are not hypothesis mind you, these are actual studies that were published by respected medical journals. In the study done by the Journal of American Medical Association, subjects who lifted weights twice a
week for one year increased bone density by 1%, while those who did not lift weights
lost 2% in the same year.(1) This equals a +3% shift in bone density without the use of prescription medication.
So for those of you who are pumping iron, keep up the good work. For those of you who are not, it is never too late to start as these studies have shown.
1. Schloserg S. are you doing the right WORKOUT?
Shape. 21(11)p 88-90 2002
2. Cribb P. Muscle. Why you need to build it
and how to do it drug free, fast and effectively. High Performance Muscle. 1 (1) p18-31 2001
3. Wagenmakers. AJM. Muscle amino acid metabolism at rest and during exercise: Role in human
physiology and metabolism. Exer. and Sport in Scince review. 26:287-314 1998
4. Larson L Acta. Physiol Scand 36 (S):457,1978
5. Hack V et al. Cystine levels,cystine flux, and protein catabolism in cancer cackexia,
HIV/SIV infection and senescence. FASEB J. 11:84-92 1997
