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Diet and Fitness
Published on June 16, 2024 • Last updated 29 minutes ago • 4 minute read
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Canadian health and fitness experts recently suggested adding weight training to your weekly routine to step up your exercise levels. Stuart Gradon/Calgary Herald File Photo Stuart Gradon/Calgary Herald File Photo
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If you walk, run, swim or bike regularly during the weekdays, you might think that's enough to keep you healthy, but health and fitness experts suggest adding weight training to your weekly routine to take your exercise to the next level.
Indeed, Canadian physical activity guidelines have long recommended engaging in strength-strengthening activities at least twice a week, but most messaging from health and fitness organizations has focused on the benefits of aerobic exercise, with strength training being more of a footnote than a headline.
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So why are we encouraging more Canadians to lift weights now? Over the past few years, a growing body of research has shown that strength training doesn't just build muscle strength, size and power. Research shows it's comparable to aerobic exercise in terms of positive effects on overall health and reducing the risk of chronic diseases, like cardiovascular disease and some cancers, that rob Canadians of their prime years.
But that's not the only reason why weight training is the latest call to action. There's growing evidence that weightlifting is important for slowing the natural muscle loss that occurs with age. If left unchecked, we lose muscle at a rate of 3% per year, starting around middle age. While that may not seem like a big deal when you're young and healthy, losing muscle can make it harder to complete everyday tasks like climbing stairs, taking out the trash, or lifting grocery bags. It can also make you less resistant to injury and more easily fatigued, especially if you're active. And with the over-55s in Canada making up the fastest-growing age group, healthy aging has become a national concern.
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“Resistance exercise has been shown to have remarkable benefits in terms of mitigating the decline in strength and power and delaying the transition to frailty,” said Stuart Phillips, Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health and lead author of the American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Journal 2023 Best of the Year research paper, “The Coming of Age of Resistance Exercise as a Primary Form of Exercise for Health.”
Phillips isn't the only fitness and health expert to preach the importance of weight training: a recent editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine acknowledged the importance of strength as we age, but suggested that building and maintaining muscle is just as important in youth as it is in middle age and beyond.
The editorial argues that poor muscle strength has a negative impact on physical health, regardless of age. Weaker children in the classroom are less motivated to participate in physical activity, and if they do participate, they are more likely to be injured, further distancing them from active play. Low confidence in their physical abilities carries over into their teenage years and beyond, not only making them more likely to be one of the 50% of Canadians who do not meet national physical activity guidelines, but also lowering their muscle mass baseline, putting them at greater risk of frailty and functional decline that can diminish their quality of life over the decades.
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“To promote healthy aging, we must recognize the importance of extending the duration of muscle strength from old age through the foundations of strength and physical function in childhood,” the authors of the BJSM editorial wrote.
To be clear, health and fitness experts are not encouraging kids to take up powerlifting. Strength training can take many forms, including bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats, and lunges, using light weights like dumbbells, kettlebells, and medicine balls, and using weight training machines that guide exercisers through the correct range of motion.
Gone are the days when weight training was thought to stunt young children's growth and increase the risk of injury to developing joints. Supervised training led by certified instructors who provide age-appropriate instruction, techniques, and strength training protocols have proven to have lower injury rates than those recorded in organized sports. Most strength training programs for children use body weight or light weights to stress the muscles. As they reach their teenage years, heavier weights and more complex exercises and training programs can be introduced, allowing young people to not only train confidently on their own by the time they graduate from high school, but to carry that confidence into middle age and beyond.
“Muscle strength needs to be assessed in clinical practice from early in life and tailored interventions prescribe that recognize the equal importance of aerobic and strength-building exercises,” the British journal authors wrote.
There is mounting evidence that it is never too late or too early to reap the benefits of strength training. Most experts recommend weight training twice a week, working all major muscle groups. Start with 1-2 sets of 8-12 repetitions using weights that feel challenging but not so heavy that you struggle to maintain proper form throughout. Effective strength training can be completed in 30-60 minutes, allowing plenty of time for your regular running, walking, cycling or swimming. So grab those dumbbells and get weight training started.
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