Maintaining Your Health on Mackinac
Weight Training Helps Develop and Maintain Muscle Mass
By Yvan Silva, M.D.

There is a strong consensus among experts that an important component of a regular physical exercise program is strength training, the development and maintenance of muscle mass. Doctors used to advise older adults against vigorous exercise because of the potential for injury. Not too long ago, pediatricians, coaches, and parents were against strength training and weight lifting because of concerns that inordinate physical stress would interfere with normal growth.

All that has changed. Geriatricians are prescribing weekly weight training programs for their patients. Midlife and aging baby boomers are flocking to fitness programs. Adults older than 55 are joining health clubs - the number has increased 350% over the past decade. Fitness experts are proposing that for children as young as eight or nine, weight training is not only safe but recommended, with proper supervision and age-adjusted routines. Pediatricians, as far back as five years ago, arrived at a consensus that strength training programs are effective for children and adolescents and don't appear to adversely affect normal growth.

Physiologists have proven that strength training not only builds muscles, but also strengthens bones and helps streamline aging processes. Muscles burn fuel optimally, raising the basal metabolic rate, thus burning more calories at rest and optimizing weight control.

Around age 35, and past that, the body begins to lose about a third of a pound of muscle every year. Fat accumulation begins at a greater rate, depending on a variety of factors. This combination increases the risk of co-morbid conditions such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, and osteoarthritis. Besides increasing muscle mass and strength, lifting weights will enhance bone density and balance, improve glucose control in diabetics, reduce pain in people with arthritis, and improve sleep patterns and reduce depression.

Building muscle mass by lifting weights can increase metabolism. It often paves the way for lifelong physical activity when started at younger ages. This may be a significant way to stave off the obesity epidemic that is emerging rapidly. About 15% of children and adolescents between the ages of six and 19 are seriously overweight. This is climbing, and in certain demographic populations, obesity rates are much higher.

Experts say that younger children should start with resistance bands and light loads to build strength. In their teens, they may start with small dumbbells at home or start, under supervision, to lift weights in a gym. Sports Clubs for Kids is a program that will start circuit training for 11-yearolds and older, through a series of eight to 10 drills at differing weight stations, in several gym locations nationwide.

Children are joining their parents on gym floors for regular exercise. In 2001, 4.1 million health club members nationwide were younger than 18, of a total of 33.8 million members; five years earlier they counted 2.8 million of a total membership of 28.3 members.

There are potential problems, some psychological, yet the discipline of a supervised strength training program far outweighs the sedentary lifestyle that is the possible alternative.

Strength training is but one component of an all-round exercise program, which also consists of aerobic exercise and stretching techniques to promote flexibility. The time to start, if you're going to, is now. People who have been sedentary should start at low levels of weight lifting, increasing appropriately to gain strength. This can be followed with aerobics.

It is best to start by consulting your doctor, especially if you have chronic health problems, and then move on sensibly. Weight training can be done at home with dumbbells and ankle weights, with programs suitable for your age and condition. Several programs are published and easily available. Working out at a gym, with good instruction, is also beneficial.

Contrary to common thinking, women don't bulk up like men; when women lose fat and gain muscle, they become trimmer, as muscle is denser than fat and takes up less space.

Strengthening your muscles will help to align joints and get them to function better, while reducing chronic pain. You should work out two or three times a week. Workouts can start from 20 minutes and increase to 30 to 45 minutes. Most major muscle groups should be exercised - arms, shoulders, torso and abdomen, hips, and legs. As you gain strength, the intensity of training can be enhanced.

Weight training has become increasingly acceptable, and indeed recommended during the past 15 years. Public perceptions have changed, from weight lifters previously sarcastically regarded as "muscleheads," to groups of everyday people, from children and adolescents, through young and middle ages, and shifting now to the older and elderly. The benefits are marvelous and well established among the lay public, fitness experts, and health care practitioners. It's an equally important component in a program of regular physical exercise, a hallmark of a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Silva is a professor of surgery at Wayne State University and a resident of Woodbluff on Mackinac Island.