Health & Family Strength Training provides the impossible.

Get more time and a better quality of life.

Of course we've all been dealt certain hereditary/genetic cards, but in general, strength/resistance training will benefit virtually all who practice it.

Strength Training Will Keep You Young

This link is just one example of the benefits of strength training, especially for more mature people.

Strength or resistance training should not be limited to discussions in the Sports category.

Every body should do resistance exercises of some sort if they want to be as healthy as possible and slow, stop or even reverse your current biological age.

 

@Ace in the Hole I find nowadays I (over 45) enjoy the mix of weights and cardio within a workout much more than a weights only workout

 

Here here. Been under-rated for decades.

 

Another supplementary exercise to work on is flexibility.
As you get older you lose flexibility if you don't work on it, will lead to restrictions in your body movements and make you more prone to injury.
It may also cause you unnecessary pain due to tightness or muscle imbalances.

 

What are your thoughts on just body weight exercises Ace?

I don't lift a lot of heavy weights - but I do enjoy chin ups, dips, push ups, planks etc. I seem to get more out of it then free weights.

100% agree with spending some time on improving flexibility - especially as you get older. I used to get away without stretching, warming up, etc.....these days I pay A LOT of attention to it.

 

I find that strength training is great but for some reason it doesn't seem to burn any fat I think I need to run more.

 

+1 for that also, have been working a lot on shoulder mobility of late, can finally do an overhead squat with some weight above rather than a broomstick, or having weight plates under my heels

Facebook feed has GMB, Christopher Sommers, Kelly Starrett info

 

A combination is ideal Jess. 2-3 short weights sessions followed by some cardio / run would help a lot. Stick to full body resistance movements if possible.

 

Great Post,
As much as i love running, I stopped doing long runs (10k and over) a few years back and instead started lifting weights and love the difference in body shape, mass and overall energy.
Lifting these days is as important as running since they really complement each other. The only other thing that i would add is,not ignoring core training. A strong core can help avoid injuries and helps with posture amongst other things...

 

@Ace in the Hole, check this article out. Pretty much on point and puts some science behind it too.
"Yes, Resistance Training Can Reverse the Aging Process" Len Kravitz, Ph.D

Age Reversal with Resistance Training

I've been following Dr. Len Kravitz's research for years. He's got some seriously good articles below if interested.
Article page

Cheers

 

Body weight exercises are absolutely fantastic.
Gymnasts are a perfect example of this, and other trainees practicing calisthenics type exercises.
Moving your body through space is just about the best thing you can do.
It's still weight/resistance training, but using your own bodyweight is even better as it needs more coordination and stabiliser muscles compared to lying on a bench and simply pushing a weight.

However, it's still good to use dumbbells or barbells for some exercises such as:
Overhead press for shoulders - difficult to do with bodyweight.
Barbell squats, even if only light weight as bodyweight is not enough.
Deadlifts, even with only light to moderate weight.
The list goes on, so many variations, but if you cover all the compound exercises with a combination of bodyweight and barbell/dumbbell exercises, that will be awesome.

 

Really good point.
I have been weight training on and off for 20 years, but only concentrated on the big muscle groups and neglected direct core exercises.
I took up sprinting 2 years ago and always had lower back pain as I leaned back as I tried harder to run faster.
More recently in the past 12 months I've been doing much more core strengthening exercises and my running posture is so much more solid, no more backward lean.
No more lower back pain either after running.
This is very important as when the body fatigues, something will give up first and if your core is your weakest part, that is what will go which then leads to other problems.
It's funny how the body works.
You may get a certain injury, but it's often due to a weakness somewhere else in your body.
Many people would fall victim of trying to treat certain injuries at their location, rather than treating the source of the injury.
If you keep getting injured in the same place over and over, it's likely that the source of the injury has not been detected and strengthened enough to avoid future injury.

 

Damn....
Now a year ago I stuffed my right shoulder, lost all power....

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@Ace in the Hole what core exercises are you doing for your back?

I've got a recurring injury in my lower back, and knowing what you're doing might be a shortcut in figuring out how to fix it.