Strength training for older people

Synonyms in the broadest sense

Functional strength training, age sport

Introduction

Many sports providers and fitness studios have already reacted to the steady increase in the older population and have adapted their sports offer to the needs of older people. While only a few years ago it was the ambitious fitness sportsmen and leisure bodybuilders who were represented in commercial fitness studios, nowadays it is more and more older fellow citizens who are looking for the way to the fitness studio. Strength training at the age of 50+ no longer refers to the targeted muscle build-up for aesthetic reasons, but with increasing age the health and preventive aspect of strength training also increases. Often it is also older people who have done no or very little sport in recent years and are looking for a visit to the gym on medical advice.

Typical diseases in old age

  • Arteriosclerosis
  • Cancer
  • Heart attack
  • Dementia
  • Cataract
  • Diabetes mellitis
  • Arthrosis
  • Osteoporosis
  • Stroke

In geriatric sports, too, a visit to the gym is about the primary growth of muscle mass and the stabilization of joints and bones, but not primarily to look better, but to achieve health aspects of strength training. From the age of 30 onwards, there is already a reduction in muscular body mass (catabolism). Roughly estimated, there is a reduction of about 3% per decade of life.

From the age of 60 onwards even by up to 10 percent. Targeted training of the musculature can counteract this biological decline of the musculature. Through adequate strength training, diseases such as osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and obesity can be prevented and damage can be partially regenerated.

In old age, the continuous reduction of muscle mass leads to more and more problems in coping with everyday situations. Be it shopping in the supermarket, climbing stairs or acting independently, to name but a few. Strengthening the muscles should therefore always be seen purely from a functional point of view.

Example: The training of the front thigh muscles (M. quadrizeps femoris) can be done by exercising leg extension. This involves an extension of the knee joint. However, this muscle is never contracted in this way in everyday motor activity.

Rather, it results in flexion in the hip joint (e.g. getting up from a chair). It would therefore make more sense to train the muscle with the leg press or, if the movement coordination allows it, by bending the knee. Even in age-related sports, continuous strength training increases performance proportionally.

Therefore, the intensity can be progressively increased during training. Not only does age-appropriate strength training increase physical performance, but all risk factors of a lack of movement are counteracted by targeted training of the muscles. The continuous increase in muscle mass results in an increased reduction of fat mass in the long term. The combination of strength training and balance training has been shown to significantly reduce the number of age-related falls.