Weight Lifting Workouts for Seniors
Research done on seniors lifting weights clearly proves the many benefits over a long-term period. The return on training for just 30 minutes three or four times a week include the improvement of the immune system, preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes, preventing heart disease and preventing the onset of Alzheimer's and osteoporosis in both men and women.
For men certain researchers think that exercise can help reduce the risks of developing colon and prostate cancer. Prostate cancer kills more men in America than any other cancer in men over 50. Specialists now believe that because exercise increases the speed of metabolism, moving food through the colon and large intestine faster, it is able to reduce the time the waste is stored in the large intestines and colon, it reduces the chance of cancer developing.
When seniors train with weights the joints last longer, they stay flexible and this enables muscle growth. Osteoporosis and other arthritic conditions are prevented because the connective tissue or cartilages are strengthened with exercise preventing painful bone disorders.
The benefit to the brain has been so clearly seen by researchers that they now use weight training to treat depression. Research also shows a major benefit in being able to relax better and this results in improved sleep and recuperation for any senior citizen who trains with weights on a regular basis.
Starting out training with weights for the first time as a senior citizen needs to be done slowly. The intensity, which means the amount of rest taken between sets, should be medium, around 90 seconds to 2 minutes. The objective is to slowly increase the intensity by resting less between sets.
When starting off you should only train three times a week for around 30 minutes. Training with weights is called progressive resistance because the objective is to let your body slowly and progressively adapt to the increased weight you are lifting while diminishing the rest time taken between sets.
The amount of sets and reps that you do are going to depend on what your specific objective when training with weights. For example, if your objective is to gain muscle as fast as you can then you need to do sets of 6 to 12 reps while you concentrate on reducing the rest time between sets.
If your objective is to improve endurance and your cardiovascular capacity, then you should train with 15 or 20 reps. For any elderly folk who are training with weights to improve strength then they would need to go heavy using reps ranging from 1 rep to 6 reps.
If a senior citizen was able to train four times a week the routine would be split by doing legs and lower back on Monday, rest on Tuesday. Then chest, triceps and abs on Wednesday, resting for Thursday and doing back and biceps on Friday with the final workout of the week on Sunday training shoulders, traps and wrists.
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