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Weight training for your health as a senior
There is no doubt that muscle mass and strength decline as you enter your senior years. However, you can prevent this loss to a certain extent with weight training. Having a good weight training program is essential not just for maintaining muscle mass and strength but for protecting your overall health and well being. |
As a senior you end up losing at least 40 percent of your muscle mass compared to what you had in your 20s. This does not portent good for those seniors who want to have the strength and ability to comfortably lift objects around their homes. However, the good news is that weight training for health especially designed for seniors is available to combat the negative effects of aging.
Most seniors hesitate to opt for weight training for their health because they fear that they might injure themselves during the training. So the question asked constantly is how hard should a senior train? It is difficult to answer this question as it will depend on your age and health. Fortunately there is a scale called the Borg Category Rating Scale which can help you determine how hard you should train.
The Borg Category Rating Scale will be 8 or below if your effort level is extremely light. Very light would correspond to 9 or 10; fairly light 11 or 12; somewhat light hard is 13 or 14; hard is 15 or 16 and beyond 17 is very hard. If the scale reaches 20 then you are in the very very hard zone.
Weight training can be taken up for health using the Borg Category Rating Scale. You can start with a Borg level of 13, although experts think that 15 or 16 is the ideal effort level for seniors as this intensity is required to build muscles to offset the loss because of age.
As you start weight training, you will see over time that it comes easier and you will need to set a bigger challenge for yourself in order to gain more strength and muscle mass. Consider this as a good sign because it means that you are re-developing your strength and gradually restoring the lost muscle tissue.
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