Regardless of age, weightlifting reduces muscle loss

The noted poet Robert Frost once said, “In three words, I can sum up everything I know about life:  It goes on.”

How true.  No matter our condition, no matter how difficult or easy our circumstances are, life continues on.

Perhaps the best illustration of this truism is observing one’s exercise regimen once they reach their thirties and forties.

For example, I’ve been an avid exerciser since I was young, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed how I’m not as quick as I used to be, I’m not the same strapping  young lad that I was in my mid-twenties.

But what’s changed?  I’m still pretty much the same weight. I definitely eat better than I used to eat.  So why are my exercise pursuits floundering instead of flourishing?

Obviously the passage of time and age is the answer to this question, but just what is it about age that forces us to recognize our lifting limits?

Well, researchers believe they may have found the answer to that question, and the answer is written in their blood.

By this I mean that as we age, like our decrease in muscle mass, blood flow efficiency decreases as well.

Researchers affirmed this sad fact of life after testing was done on a group of active twentysomethings and sixtysomethings.  Their blood was tested prior to their having breakfast and then tested again afterward.  Each of them were then given a shot of insulin to see whether or not insulin was used differently in the participants’ bloodstream, suspecting it would be used differently depending on their age.

Just as the good doctors’ suspected, insulin was used differently, and as you may have already guessed, insulin was used more efficiently in the young folks’ bodies.

Insulin is something of a renaissance hormone – it has many roles and many talents.  One of them is in regulating how much glucose the blood feeds to the muscles.  As the researchers found, the twentysomethings had a greater blood flow and insulin response in the muscles observed, while there wasn’t much of a change observed in the older group.

The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and was performed by researchers from the University of Nottingham in England.

So, as we age, do we just have to grin and bear our depleting physiques?  Must we be resigned to the notion that we’re no longer our twentysomething selves?

Yes and no.

Yes, we do have to accept that life goes on and our strength does decrease, but we can slow the aging process though our exercise efforts.

As researchers found in a follow-up study, the older men that weightlifted regularly used insulin more efficiently and saw more muscle growth than those that didn’t lift.  In fact, the insulin response and increased blood flow was on par with the twentysomethings!

The researchers define “regular” as weightlifting three times a week.  That’s exactly my idea of “regular” as well, for I weight train three times a week (though I’ll occasionally miss a session or two due to work constraints).

So there you have it.  Life may go on, but you can make sure it goes slowly through moderate amounts of weight training every week.

Sources:
livescience.com
wisegeek.com

Dr. Ames has stated to address this problem everyone should be taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement on a daily basis. His studies have shown these relations between vitamins and late-life diseases:

1. Low magnesium intake related to bowl cancer, low blood pressure, osteoporosis  and diabetes
2. Lack of vitamin D has been linked to breast, bowel and prostate cancer
3. Calcium deficiency has been linked to diabetes
4. Lack of potassium related to heart disease
5. Low vitamin B12 has been linked to multiple sclerosis

This is not the end of the Dr. Ames studies; he has also found that daily vitamins increase the energy and memory of elderly rats used for this study. This is significant information for our society which focuses so much on quick and easy meals that have been known to lack vitamins and nutrients which are required to live a healthy life throughout our elderly years.

When it comes to choosing the vitamins and supplements you need to increase your nutrients and get away from any vitamin deficiencies it is important to speak to a naturopathic professional before buying or taking any vitamins. There are so many different supplements on the market today that it can be easy to lean towards the cheapest bottle and hope it does its job but this can be quite dangerous to your health. Without taking the time to conduct proper research on what you are putting into your body there is a good chance you are not improving your health but possibly harming it.

Alive! Multivitamin is a great place to start with your research as many naturopathic professionals will recommend this Multi-Vitamin/Whole Food supplement to you. Research what is best for your current health conditions and your diet so you are enhancing your nutrients and health for your elderly years.