Strength Training for Seniors – A Little Dab Goes a Long Way Toward Wellness

By Leslee Jaquette, guest blogger

In the “old days” women were cautioned not to work out with weights for fear they would look muscle-bound like Charlie Atlas. Men, on the other hand, might forego weight training because they didn’t want to get “too big” and their clothes might not fit.

These days those sorts of rationalizations simply fly in the face of research. For one thing, most women can’t get muscle bound due to the effects of estrogen. But more importantly, if we don’t work our muscles most of us will lose 20 to 40 percent of our muscle tissue as we age. With it go balance and the ability to easily conduct everyday tasks. Not working our bodies also spells an increase of risk for osteoporosis as well as obesity and diabetes.