It is so important to develop good habits when you’re young because it certainly makes aging less difficult. I was introduced to weight training in my twenties, but I took it to a whole ‘nother level in my mid-thirties when I started competing competitively. However, it didn’t take me long to figure out that though I was not going to compete all my life, I would want to carry over the discipline bodybuilding taught me.
1. Don’t be afraid to intentionally and deliberately put physical stress on the bones and muscles. The physical body becomes stronger under physical stress brought on by training. I’m always delighted to see that there are more women working out in the free weight area in the gym. However, I still smile to myself when I see them lifting a five or ten pound dumbbell. At least their weight training, right? Correct. However, the body needs to be taken out of its comfort zone just like anything else in life. If we always stay in our comfort zone, we experience very little growth in our lives. That’s why hiring a personal trainer is always a good idea if we are unable to physically push the body ourselves.
It becomes important to apply this right amount of pressure as we age. After the age of 25, we begin to lose five to ten percent of our muscles every ten years, so we are no longer building but hopefully maintaining if we have been doing it when we were young.
2. Hopefully, when we were also young, we have been learning to eat carbohydrates and the right kind at that. If we are going to do any kind of strength training, we need carbohydrates and the right ones, such as brown rice, sweet potato, quinoa etc. To lift weights the body needs glycogen, a form of stored energy. When carbs are broken down they are converted into glycogen and stored in the muscles and liver. Any excess is stored as fat. Unfortunately, the body does not go into the fat storage for energy in weight training. For some reason, God did not design the body that way. However, this is still good news, especially for diabetics in controlling blood sugar levels.
Because strength training uses a system that needs glycogen, it does help to manage the blood sugar level and weight. There is a saying that says, if you don’t use it, you lose it. In this case, however, the saying is if you don’t use it, you keep it and most likely as fat.
3. But the best part about training with resistance is it keeps the metabolism revved up. With age, the metabolism decreases, making it difficult to lose weight and easier to gain weight. Muscles help the body to burn fat even at rest. And this is why it also works so wonderfully with cardio training, such as biking, swimming, walking etc. With the powerful combination of weight training and cardio the body becomes an effective fat burning machine. In cardio or aerobic training, the body can or will use the fat for energy. In addition, it will strengthen the lungs and the heart.
If we do strength and cardio training, then we are helping the body to manage itself effectively. The major components of our bodies are our muscles and bones, and our heart and lungs. If we are going to age gracefully, then we have to work the body in the way God designed.
