We all know them. The people who have gracefully collected years under their belt but look and perform like someone 20 years younger. It’s damn impressive. The good news: It’s very attainable. Yes of course genetics play an important role, however, those hardened individuals, the ones who seem to have a ticker of a thoroughbred horse and have been constructed out of raw steel, definitely did not get there by sitting on the couch. I can bet almost anything that they have lived a life filled with consistent applicable stress and the resulting adaptations in order to be that way. For a long time, people have viewed ageing as an inevitable decline in mental and physical performance, and don’t get me wrong, this decline and ultimately death will as sure as anything, eventually get us all. However, recently there has been an amazing trend backed by science, that can put some serious brakes on the degenerative effects of ageing and has changed the way we arrive at that final destination. This trend is resistance training. A methodical system to increase strength and power through fundamental human movements. Once thought to only be a young man’s game, resistance training has increasingly grown in popularity among woman, children and the elderly. As it should! Increasing lean muscle mass, bone strength, joint and ligament health, mobility, balance and mental health all seem like attractive no brainers to me. Healthy ageing and resistance training are characterized by retention and even addition of healthy tissue. Yes, you can still pack on muscle and even get in the shape of your life in the advanced stages of your story. I have personally seen plenty of personal records in the 2nd half of people’s centuries. It is never too late. By lifting weights and overcoming gravity, you can invest in yourself, your lifestyle and in those around you.
The growing body of research and data tells us that everybody that can lift weights, should lift weights. Instead of wasting away in frailty, dependence, weakness and ‘what could have been’, take control. Build functional and resilient tissue that will allow you to go out fighting and look good doing it.
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