When it comes to aging, a big problem is the fact that your muscle tissue and bones get weaker. If you want to lower the amount of stress on these weakened bones, you need to build up your muscle mass using strength training.

Strength training can help elderly people reverse the muscle loss that happens with age safely and effectively. The muscle loss we experience as we age is referred to as sarcopenia and it starts to occur when we are around 45 years old. At that age, our muscle mass declines by about 1% every year.

Since our body naturally deteriorates, it is important to include strength training in the exercise program of senior citizens. What strength training does to give you strong bones is stop your healthy muscles, tissues, and bones from breaking down. Another benefit of strength training is stronger ligaments at your muscles and joints.

When your body is strong, you are less likely to injure yourself in an accident. A strong body will also help you resist viruses so you can stay healthy. There is evidence that after undergoing a 12-week strength training program participants had significant improvement. People who had osteoarthritis in their joints were able to improve their strength by almost 15% and improve their balance by more than 50% after completing the program.

In another study, volunteers who suffered from chronic kidney diseases and followed the same program had great results. While these volunteers were on a low protein diet, they were able to increase muscle fiber more than 30% and their muscle strength by about 30% after 12 weeks. These results were compared to people not training who increased their body weight by 3%.

Strength training can be divided into two separate groups, which include body sculpting and body building. The best form of strength training for the elderly is body sculpting because it meets their needs better. With body sculpting, women can increase their muscle mass by as much as 5 pounds. Men can add as much as 10 pounds of muscle mass.

It is important to keep your strength training to short sessions. Spending too much time on weight training can lower the body building results of exercising and can increase the pain in your muscles. If you injure your muscles, you can be unable to work out in the future. If the elderly keep their strength training sessions short, they can build strong bones. It is best to workout twice a week and rest during each session.