Strength, Power, Resistance: Get Stronger as you Age with Proper Exercise
Updated: Click HERE to join this fall’s “30 Years of Alzheimer’s Prevention Conference” in Scottsdale, AZ (also available via live-stream) this September 30th to learn about this topic and much more!
Maintaining a healthy weight and staying physically active reduces your risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by up to 50 percent. Exercise is an extremely important tool for staying healthy – physically and mentally.
Our friends from the 8 Grady’s Performance Center created a routine to exercise safely and build strength with age:
1 – Warm-ups: If you want to lift weights, run fast, or move well, you want to make sure that your warm-up is concrete and done correctly. This is where soft tissue mobilization, static stretching, increased range of motion, and corrective exercise come into play.
2 – Power development: This is important because power is expressed in daily life – whether that be a reaction to a fall, picking up your child, or leaping over a puddle so that your shoes don’t get wet. By training these qualities, your body is able to respond to any demands that you may face.
3 – Resistance training: Bone density increases whenever resistance training is applied. This ultimately helps you prevent bone degeneration, breaks, or fractures. Secondly, the natural process of sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle tissue as we age, is then delayed with just a regular introduction of strength training.
Studies have shown that women from age 40 to 60 who exercised regularly were seen to have a dramatic reduction in memory loss and cognitive decline. That’s right– they kept their brain power at optimal strength! More recent findings suggest that an overall active lifestyle is key to brain and body health.
To see the best benefits of your exercise program, the latest research reveals that the magic number for maintaining cognitive fitness with age and preventing Alzheimer’s is to work up to a level of 150 minutes per week of a combination of cardio exercise and strength training. Great ways to get in your aerobic exercise include brisk walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, and playing tennis, or going to the gym and utilizing an elliptical, treadmill or stationary bike.
Anything that gets your heart pumping and your muscles moving is heading you in the right direction to better overall health. Plus when you include strength training (e.g., weights, resistance machines, isometrics, etc.), you maintain your muscle mass and prevent osteoporosis and related illness.
Thanks to the wonderful trainers, Adrian, Sandra, and Estevan, who created this routine to help us enjoy brain longevity and independence through physical fitness.
Updated: Click HERE to join this fall’s “30 Years of Alzheimer’s Prevention Conference” in Scottsdale, AZ (also available via live-stream) this September 30th to learn about this topic and much more!
