Heavy weight training around retirement could preserve vital leg strength years later, finds a study published in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. People naturally lose skeletal muscle mass and function as they get older, which could lead to immobility and dependence. Losing leg muscle strength is considered a strong predictor of death in older people.
For the study, 369 recently retired and healthy and active seniors, average age 66 years (61 per cent women), were randomly assigned to either one year of lifting heavy weights thrice a week, or moderate intensity training with body weight or resistance bands thrice weekly, or a control group who maintained their usual level of physical activity.
Bone and muscle strength and body fat were measured at the start of the trial, and then again after one, two and four years. Leg strength was preserved at the same level in the heavy weights group, but fell in the other two groups, after four years. Body fat remained the same for both the exercise groups, but increased in the control group. However, leg extensor power (the ability to kick a pedal as hard and as fast as possible), handgrip strength and lean leg mass decreased in all three groups.
“In well-functioning older adults at retirement age, one year of heavy resistance training may induce long-lasting beneficial effects by preserving muscle function,” the study concluded.
