One of the key elements to having a full enjoyable life is staying strong.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not expecting you to get as cut as the gym bunny girl in the picture but you do need to maintain your strength throughout your life.
Previously I talked about what strength training is and how much it is recommended we should do each week. Here’s some of the advantages of strength training:
• Protect your joints from injury • Preserves bone density and therefore reduce the risk of osteoporosis • As we age our muscle mass reduces and we become weak and unable to do tasks we could before. Strength training keeps the muscles strong. • Building muscle can help with better balance which in turn will reduce the risk of falls • Help reduce fat loss • Reduce the signs and symptoms of arthritis, Type 2 Diabetes • Reduce the risk of heart disease
I personally realised the benefits a couple of weeks ago when I went to the Podiatrist. I have quite a few alignments and structural issues. As he was assessing my posture and my gait, he did say to me that if I hadn’t been working my muscles all these years I would be in a lot worse state and more pain than I am now. If that wasn’t an incentive to keep working out, I’m not sure what would be.
The key to strength training is to do what is appropriate for you (mind and body). It might be with dumbbells, body weight activities such as yoga or pilates, water aerobics, gardening.
Squats are great for strengthening your legs and we do them all the time when getting up from a chair, off the toilet, out of bed. Keep doing them. Keep carrying those shopping bags. Increasing your strength won’t happen overnight, you have to keep practising, consistency is key.
Karen is a qualified personal trainer and nutrition coach living in Cyprus near Paphos with her husband Mal and their cat Dave. She has been a personal trainer for 14 years and a qualified nutrition coach for over 2 years. She is passionate about working with people of any age and fitness level to improve their health and wellbeing.
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