How to Gain Strength at Any Age
Our strength is what enables us to complete everyday movements either with ease or with difficulty depending on which end of the strength spectrum you are currently on. Ideally, we want to perform everyday movements with ease and maintain our strength, independence and quality of life for as long as possible. The good news is we can all increase our strength, regardless of your age, through something called strength training.
At first you will notice strength increases from the neurological adaptations that occur when you start using and challenging your muscles again. Your nervous system becomes more efficient at recruiting and activating your muscle tissue which therefore creates a net gain in force production because more muscle is being activated. This will help improve your coordination as well. These are mainly the changes that are responsible for the increase in strength you notice in the first few weeks of starting strength training.
Once you are accustomed to your new strength training routine and are comfortable with the movements you will want to ensure that you are using enough resistance to create the environment in your muscle to continue to increase in strength. This means for most people that you are using a resistance on any given exercise that allows you to complete between 8 and 12 repetitions with good form but reach the point where it is difficult complete the movement. This is called reaching muscle failure and is critical in providing the appropriate stress on your muscle to create strength gains. If you go to 12 repetitions and stop because you were told to do 12, but you could have done 15, you have not stressed the muscle enough to create the changes you are looking to make. This is one of the most common mistakes we see when members start out and are not seeing the results they wanted. You have to create enough stress for your muscle to adapt and get stronger.
When you reach muscle failure you break down muscle tissue, which your body then rebuilds but will rebuild stronger to withstand the same stress more effectively. As the exercise becomes easier again because you are getting stronger, continue to increase the resistance so it is always challenging.
Commit to reaching “muscle failure” on each exercise and watch your strength improve, which will translate into every area of your life. Everyday activities become easier, your golf game improves, you can keep up with your grandkids, you maintain your independence, whatever is important to you and your quality of life.
Guidelines for strength training are a minimum of 2 days per week of 3 sets for each major muscle group. Implement this consistently, challenge your muscles, and reap the rewards of having a strong body!
