Every day I hear people say things like “well I am 65 you know”, “I used to be great at this when I was younger”, “I can’t do that anymore, I’m too old, I’ve got arthritis” and the list goes on. It is a common myth in our society that as we get older, we get weaker and less mobile. We accept it as a given and use the acceptance as an excuse for letting the strength go.
Now don’t get me wrong, staying strong as we age does get harder and requires more commitment than when you’re a vibrant twenty something and the process can be further complicated if you throw a few other medical conditions into the mix. However, if you just look at the physiology and evidence then we can see what is truly possible.
With the exception of a few specific neuromuscular conditions, everyone can improve their muscle strength…whatever their age.
The definition of muscle strength is: “the maximum force or power produced by a muscle or group of muscles during maximal voluntary effort” or more simply, the most force you can achieve with your muscle in one go.
Strengthening a muscle, involves using a muscle repeatedly with progressively greater resistance or weight. This causes the muscle to grow via hypertrophy, which is the enlargement of the muscle and muscle fibres. The great news is this doesn’t have to be through complicated exercise programmes at gyms and using expensive or large equipment. Simple changes to your daily routine can immediately help to build up your strength in your body.
What are the benefits of muscle strengthening?
So why is it so important to make the time and effort to work on your muscle strength as you get older? The following list is just the tip of the iceberg…
- Increased muscle strength and tone (ok an obvious one to start with!)
- Increased flexibility, mobility and balance
- Improved weight management
- Decreased cognitive decline
- Improved stamina
- Prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis etc
- Better pain management
- Improved posture
- Reduced risk of injury
- Improved bone density (reduced risk of osteoporosis)
- Improved well being and confidence
- Better sleep
- Reduction in blood pressure
- Better digestion
What effect does getting older actually have on strength?
Bad news first!
As we age we actually lose speed of muscle contraction more than muscle power. We do start a 10% decline in peak strength after the age of 60, this increases after 75 and is more significant in the legs.
The decline is more severe if you live a sedentary lifestyle or have other health conditions.
Sarcopenia, the medical term for loss of muscle fibres and size, occurs not just with ageing and reduced activity, but also poor nutrition and hormone changes.
Sitting around or long periods of immobility cause a loss of slow twitch muscle fibres, these are the ones that look after our postural muscles and keep us up against gravity all day. Ageing on the other hand causes loss of our fast twitch fibres, which are involved in our quicker, powerful movements. So if you are getting older and sitting around a lot, you are going to lose both types!
What’s the good news?
The fantastic news is that multiple studies have shown that with sufficient training, changes and improvements in muscle strength are possible at any age. A google search will find increasing stories of older people right up to their 90’s and 100’s who are bucking the trend and fighting the stereotype of old age by running marathons, taking up yoga and starting weight training. See the video below for an example!
These people don’t have any superhuman qualities but they do have the mindset needed to work on their strength and persevere to make lasting changes.
As an added bonus, strength training not only improves your muscle health but also creates neuroplastic changes in the nervous system and causes increases activity in the motor cortex of your brain- meaning you are not only keeping your body healthy but also your mind.
In fact, some studies have shown that strength can even be improved with mental imagery training or in training muscles on the opposite side to the affected ones- both of which could be useful if you have been physically affected by a neurological or other condition.
If you need further convincing read The Salt Path or The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn about her husband and her extreme hiking experience that improved his progressive neurological condition.
What next?
So, hopefully I now have you convinced about the benefits of working on your strength and that it is 100% achievable for you. Even if there are certain parts of you that are unable to be strengthened for some reason such as spinal cord injuries, muscle contractures or other issues that have made strength training for that part of you impossible, don’t forget about the rest of you. Improving your strength wherever you can will still help you reap the multitude of benefits. So what are my top tips for you to get started with? The internet is full of strength training tips, so these tips are specifically for older people and those with long term health conditions.
- Build exercises into your daily routine such as sit to stands, getting on and off the floor, carrying bags- you would be surprised at some of the everyday activities that can be turned into an easy strength builder. Little and often with give you much quicker benefits and helps to make exercising a habit that you can build into your lifestyle.
- Weights or resistance can be added in a variety of ways and don’t have to be expensive equipment. You can use your body weight, resistance bands or even tins of beans or bags of rice. Be cautious if you have unstable joints, a subluxed shoulder or hypermobility- seek professional advice first
- Aim to train strength at least 2-3 times a week- unless you are a training ninja and you have managed to build exercises into your every day!
- Strength training is specific to type and intensity so varied exercises will give you the best outcome.
- If you have been off your feet for a while or at the start of a rehab phase, focus on low intensity, long duration exercises. Build up gradually to 3 lots of 15 repetitions
- Strength training for neurological conditions, with the exception of certain neuromuscular conditions, should focus on ballistic training. This means using lighter loads and higher repetitions.
- A good way to maximise your benefits when you’re older is to do isometric or static exercises- where you activate the muscle against resistance but don’t move the joint- think holding a static squat. This type of exercise produce less fatiguability in older muscles. To get greater changes in force, perform the part of the exercise going with gravity (eccentric) slower- for example lowering the arm after a bicep curl.
- Rest each muscle group for 48 hours between training sessions for maximum benefit but not longer than 72 hours.
- Don’t forget you diet! You cannot build strong muscles safely andquickly without proper nutrition and hydration. Adding protein into your diet especially helps with muscle growth.
- There are a few areas to focus on in particular to see benefits in your walking. As above working on eccentric and ballistic movements help walking speed and control. Movements to practise include hip extension- bringing the foot behind the hip. Pushing off at the ankle- quick heel drops rather than slow heel lifts and hip flexion- lifting the knee up towards the chest- like marching exercises.
If you are at all unsure how to get started, get support from a suitably qualified exercise or health professional to get a programme suitable for you. Below are some recommended places to start looking for a qualified fitness instructor or healthcare professional.
Click here for access to our free online Staying healthy course for some exercise ideas for people with long term conditions. https://learning.senseabilitytherapy.co.uk/courses/staying-healthy-at-home/
https://www.exerciseregister.org/ (Level 3 or 4 registered fitness instructors have further training in health conditions)
https://www.csp.org.uk/public-patient/find-physiotherapist/physio2u – here you will find HCPC registered private Physiotherapists. We recommend finding one who specialises in your condition, for example if you struggle with arthritis find one with a specialty in Musculoskeletal or Geriatric Physiotherapy, if you have had a Stroke or other Neurological condition it is important you choose a Neuro Specialist Physio
Some local NHS Hospitals offer self referral routes for Physiotherapy and GP surgeries can refer you to GP exercise referral schemes- contact your local service for more information