5 key principles to LIFELONG resistance training!

Welcome to this week’s newsletter!

I am a firm believer that resistance training is an awesome tool for staying both physically and mentally fit for life.

The research supports a whole host of potent benefits for the older population such as:

• Offsetting cognitive decline and improving mental wellbeing.

• Improving and maintaining bone density - Reducing risk of fractures and osteoporosis.

• Building and maintaining muscle mass - Offsetting sarcopenia.

• Enhancing joint health and reducing wear and tear (providing you train properly…).

• Improving and maintaining balance and stability - Reducing risk of falls.

If you wish to be that grandparent who is active, fun and able to run about with their grandchildren…

Then resistance training is an absolute must!

But in order for you to do this lifelong, you must adhere to some key principles throughout your life.

These principles are:

• Consistency

• Adaptability

• Recovery and regeneration

• Good form and exercise selection

• Listening to your body

Lets take a closer look at each of these principles a bit more closely…

Consistency:

It’s been shown so many times, if you maintain good exercise habits throughout life you reap those rewards the older you get.

Consistency doesn’t have to mean hitting the gym everyday either…

It’s about finding YOUR sweet spot regarding how many weekly sessions you can commit to consistently.

This is how good habits are formed!

A recent study showed that just 3 sets of leg presses once per week, still provided benefits for the older population regarding movement capabilities and strength.

Just 2 sessions per week is still 104 sessions a year…

Adaptability:

Resistance training will look different for you in your 50s and 60s than it did in your 20s and 30s.

And that’s totally fine!

As your body changes, your goals change, exercise selection changes, training intensity changes and your overall training volume will change.

Understand this and adapt your training accordingly as you get older.

Here’s what this might look like:

• Cutting total weekly sessions back

• Making your sessions shorter

• Reducing intensity (leaving 1-2 reps in reserve and not training to failure..)

• Modifying your exercise choices

• MORE focus on health and maintenance over getting strong and muscular

Just don’t stop when you hit a certain age, adapt your training and keep going!

Recovery & Regeneration:

I covered this in detail in a previous newsletter, but the “law of senescence” dictates that we don’t recover as quick the older we get.

This is why you need to take on board the points above about adaptability, and adjust your training program accordingly.

However, there’s also stress from work and family commitments that you may also experience as you move from your 20s to your 30s and 40s…

Building in good recovery and mindfulness practices that help reduce stress is also a great idea.

Meditation, breath work and time in nature are my personal favourites, but visualisation is a more recent one that’s worth exploring if you’re open to it.

Visualise the fit and healthy person you want to be later in life…

Prioritising good quality sleep cannot be understated either!

To wrap up, recover harder the older you get as it is beneficial for both your mental health AND injury management.

Good form and exercise selection:

As a personal trainer of 21 years, I have worked with many clients who came to me already with pain and previous injuries from training.

Common causes were often sub optimal exercise technique, and/or pushing exercises that didn’t suit their bodies.

Finding the exercises that suit you and really focusing on good exercise technique is super important for resistance training longevity.

Sometimes it’s not the exercise either and more the range of movement you are working through.

For example, squatting to or below parallel, or deadlifting from the floor is not suitable for everyone.

“Standard industry exercise guidelines” are often generic and not suitable for you.

Listen to your body…

Nobody knows your body better than you do.

Be mindful of pushing through pain, or ignoring early warning signals before you end up with a more serious issue.

Know when to back off, lower the weight, change then exercise or even take another rest day.

You only have one body so listen to it and look after it.

If you are interested to find out more about working with me then reach out to me on LinkedIn, OR email me personally at daryl@dbrtraining.co.uk.

Everything starts with a full and thorough assessment and meeting you where you’re at.

This is the best way to plan the most effective AND safe training program for you moving forwards.

For now thanks for reading today, and stay tuned for the next edition of Train For Life next Saturday!

Daryl