The unsung benefits of lifting
weights
By: Judy Foreman
February 11, 2008
I’m an exercise junkie — and proud
of it. I swim, I run, I bike.
But, like many other people, I’m a
disaster when it comes to lifting weights, also
called strength, or resistance, training. The
closest I come is lifting a few tiny dumbbells at
home in front of the TV. And that’s only when the
Red Sox are on.
This is about to change, and not
just because of lingering New Year’s resolutions.
A growing body of evidence shows
that strength training not only provides many
benefits that aerobic workouts alone cannot, but
also offers some of the same health benefits as
aerobic conditioning.
It’s long been known that weight
lifting becomes more important as you get older to
prevent injury and preserve the strength to do
normal things like climbing stairs, hauling
groceries, and chasing grandchildren.
What’s comparatively new is that
it does much more than that, potentially reducing
the risk of developing heart disease, relieving neck
pain, improving balance, and making it easier to
battle the bulge — though it needs to be done
properly to avoid injury.
The evidence for the value of
strength training has grown so much that last year,
the American College of Sports Medicine and the
American Heart Association issued new
recommendations for healthy adults 65 and older that
stressed emphasized the importance of weight
lifting.
The groups now recommend that all
older Americans do eight 8 to 10 repetitions for
each of the major muscle groups (biceps, quadriceps,
hamstrings, etc.). Resistance exercises should be
done on two or more non-consecutive days of the
week.
The idea is to lift a weight
that’s heavy enough to work each muscle group until
it is fatigued, so the amount you lift will increase
as your strength grows. Weight-bearing exercise,
like walking or running, does not count as weight
lifting — that means you really have to lift weights
or work out on a resistance machine.
One of the biggest benefits of
strength training is that it dramatically increases
muscle mass, which aerobic exercise does not, noted
William J. Evans, director of the Nutrition,
Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. More
muscle mass is good not just because it makes you
stronger but because it increases basal metabolic
rate — muscle cells even at rest burn more calories
than fat cells.
Moreover, while aerobic exercise
can significantly, although temporarily, increase
blood pressure, a potential concern for some heart
patients, resistance training does so only
minimally, Evans said. Weight training also gets
results fast — it only takes resistance training
twice a week for a few weeks to begin to see a
significant effect, compared with three days a week
with aerobics.
Indeed, the more researchers probe
the benefits of weight training for specific
conditions, the stronger the case they can make,
said Miriam Nelson, director of the John Hancock
Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts
University.
Although studies have not yet
proven that strength training lowers the risk of
osteoporosis, Nelson said, they do show it lowers
the risk of fractures by improving balance, bone
density, and muscle mass. Weight training is also
good for people with arthritis, she said, because
stronger muscles can take the pressure off inflamed
joints.
Weight training has been shown to
have other benefits, too.
Research by Steven N. Blair, an
exercise scientist at the University of South
Carolina, suggests that people with greater muscle
strength may be somewhat less likely to develop
metabolic syndrome, a cluster of factors that raise
the risk of heart disease and diabetes, such as
increased waist size, high fasting blood sugar, high
triglycerides, low HDL or ‘‘good’’ cholesterol, and
high blood pressure. More studies are needed to
confirm this association.
For older people with physical
disabilities, 66 trials reviewed by Cochrane
Collaboration, an international nonprofit group that
evaluates health treatments, increasing strength
and, to a lesser extent, function. A different 2007
Cochrane review of 34 studies showed that exercises,
including strength training, can improve balance in
women age 75 and older. Yet another 2007 Cochrane
review of 34 studies on fibromyalgia
(musculoskeletal pain) showed strength training may
improve physical capacity.
And a Danish study just published
last week showed that strength training aimed at
shoulder and neck muscles can diminish the chronic
neck pain that many people get from working of at
computers.
I could go on. But I’m convinced.
Weight training may not be as much fun as a run in
the park. But I need it. I’m guessing you do, too.
Judy Foreman’s column runs every other week. Past
columns are available on
www.myhealthsense.com.
Listen to her live
call-in webcast radio show every Wednesday night
from 8:30 to 9:30 EST on
http://www.healthtalk.com.
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