Study: One Year of Resistance Training Can Benefit Older Adults for Years Afterward

We often understand fitness as a “use it or lose it” thing. 

If you stop doing it, it doesn’t really stay with you, meaning it’s a lifelong pursuit, something you can’t ever stop doing.

• But a new Danish study from the University of Copenhagen, published in June in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, suggests that lifting weights today might provide benefits for years to come, even if you stop training at some point.

The details: The study’s researchers looked at 451 older, healthy adults (369 of whom finished the four-year study) between the ages of 64 and 75. At this age, you’d expect it to be difficult to not only make strength gains but also maintain strength. That’s because muscle strength in older adults usually experiences a natural decline, commonly known as sarcopenia.

• The participants were split into three groups: The first group lifted weights three times a week, the second group did moderate-intensity training with their body weight and resistance bands, and the third group was a non-exercising control group.
• Those participants who were part of the heavy lifting group generally performed three sets of six to 12 repetitions between 70 and 85 percent of their one-rep max.
• Muscular strength and body fat levels were measured at the start of the trial, then again after one year of training, and then two and four years after that. (The individuals could decide whether or not they continued training after the first year). By the end of the four years, the average age of the participants was 71 years old.

The result: Resistance training with heavier loads provided the most significant lasting benefit, specifically in leg strength. 

• Even after four years had passed, leg strength remained largely the same in the weight training group, while those who were part of the moderate-intensity group saw a decrease in strength.

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The big picture: Not only does this study provide evidence that strength training can have long-lasting impacts on a person’s health, but, as taught in the CrossFit Masters certification course, it also suggests that it’s never too late to begin, as even adults over 60 can improve their strength through training.

Featured image: @tfameree / Instagram