Study Finds There’s No Age Limit to Start Strength Building Exercises

There’s a persistent misconception that muscle and strength building is dangerous or simply ineffective for older adults. Busting this myth is a new study from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, which found that the ability to build muscle isn't lowered due to lack of experience, so even if you start exercising in your 60’s or 70’s, you can build up muscle mass as effectively as an experienced athlete. Here is what the study found and how to start your exercise regimen in your golden years.

Muscle Building Exercise is Equally Effective for Senior Beginners and Master Athletes 

Building muscle strength is a tedious task at any age, but the benefits by far outweigh the costs, like frailty, muscle weakness and an unsupported skeletal system can all be dealt with just through a few hours of regular weekly training. Though young individuals are at an advantage compared to older adults when it comes to exercise intensity and muscle building, another factor, experience, doesn’t seem to make you get stronger faster, the new study shows. 

 

The research team compared athletes with 20+ years of experience in sports to a group of beginners of a similar age and found that both groups have built muscles identically well. The average age of the experienced athletes was 68 years, whereas the beginners averaged at 73 years. 

 

Of course, the researchers exposed both groups to an identical diet and exercise routine to avoid possible confounds and measured each participant’s muscle-building progress by conducting regular biopsies every 48 hours that showed how much protein buildup was created in the muscle tissue. The researchers found no difference in protein synthesis between the two groups, concluding that novice athletes built muscle strength equally as well as the pros. 

 

Needless to say, regular exercising starting from a younger age provides additional health benefits and is a preventative method for many health conditions, but in general, the study proves that ‘better late than never’ is the motto to follow when it comes to exercise.

Should Seniors Approach Exercise Differently to Youngsters?

Starting an exercise routine for the first time is a difficult endeavor no matter your age, but the possibility of pre-existing conditions, more common among seniors than young adults, further complicates this task. On average, the starting point for older individuals is a lower intensity exercise, and some pre-existing conditions may require further accommodations to your training regimen, so it’s best to start under the supervision of a trainer, doctor, or both. 

 

The complexity of the workout is also an important factor, and it’s best to start slow and simple so as not to overwhelm your body and mind, and stay motivated and inspired before each workout. 

 

The third and last, but still very important factor to consider is consistency. Training consistently is more important than going to the gym for an hour or more, and so shorter, but more regular training sessions will benefit seniors more than demanding long training routines.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

3 reasons to avoid the Keto Diet

In this piece, we’ll discuss why the keto diet is not realistic and practical for someone as a lifestyle. Before we start, let’s just quickly recap what is keto diet is- A keto is basically a high fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate diet. A ratio of a typical keto diet is 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates. 

Let’s understand the mechanism of a keto diet :-
Generally, our body uses glucose for energy which comes from carbohydrates. In Keto diet, we shift our metabolism from carbohydrate as source of energy to fat as a source of energy.

When there is an absence of carbohydrate in the body and no glucose is available, then a compound is created from fat called ketones, which used a source of energy. The keto diet has spoiled the image of carbohydrates, as the claim is that carbohydrates stores fat.

Here are 3 reasons as to why one would avoid the Keto diet:
1) Complexity - 75% to 80% of the keto diet comprises of fat. Now, there are four types of fat, the healthy fats are Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats and unhealthy fats are Saturated fats and Trans fats. The first problem one would encounter in a keto diet to properly balance all the four types of fat.

Another thing you must realize is that trans fat is known to cause heart problems, so, it is absolutely non-negotiable to eliminate trans fat from not only keto diet but any diet that you follow.

Another problem is that it is very rare to find a food that only has a single macronutrient. Any food will generally have all three macronutrients like fats, protein and carbohydrates. The biggest challenge is to find foods that will enable you to stay within the required macronutrient ratio.

2) Anti-Social- Another problem with the Keto diet is that it hampers your social life because carbohydrates are everywhere. Imagine going out with your friends for dinner and/or getting a sudden birthday cake surprise on your birthday, these are few occasions you cannot avoid carbohydrates and a give a lame excuse that eating a small piece of cake will kick you out of ketosis.

3) Sustainability - If the idea is to stick to a keto diet for a short period of time and return to your regular diet, then it is totally pointless to venture into a keto diet. Ask yourself if you can do a keto diet for the next ten to fifteen years? Yes some people can, but not everyone, and it may be impractical to do so

Concluding remarks:-
Carbohydrate is not the culprit but a sedentary lifestyle and spillover of carbohydrates can make you store fat. You can definitely lose weight if you manage and manipulate your carbohydrates and do a fair amount of weight training and cardio and stay in caloric deficit. For e.g, remove simple carbohydrates like sugar, white bread from your diet and include complex carbohydrates like oats and quinoa.

We all have certain commitments and stress in our personal and professional life, and introducing a keto diet will further compound it. And also remember the initial phase of keto diet is very strenuous, you'll have immense cravings for carbohydrates.

Fitness is something which you want to be able to make a part of life, and only then you'll be able to sustain it. For sustainable fitness lifestyle, you have to add certain training and diet protocols that adjust and set with your day-to-day life. Keto may not be one of them.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                 PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                               
     https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                     
  FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com