Weight Training…It Just Might Save Your Life!

Everyone that knows me or that reads my blog knows that I am a big believer in weight training.  I believe that weight training should be the core component of any fitness program.  I want to share a brief story  because it shows just the immense benefits weight training can provide especially for people that are older.  One of my very good clients is over 60 years old.  Well, in chronological age anyways, but there is no doubt in my mind that his physical conditioning  would be hard to be matched by people in their 20′s.  While most people his age are starting to have trouble getting around he routinely uses well over 200 pounds for dead lifts and that’s for 10 reps!  I give him exercises like squats and dead lifts because they use the most muscle mass.  They  also closely relate to activities that we do daily so that when he goes to lift something heavy at his cabin, he does so effortlessly.  Anyways, this client was removing Christmas lights off of the top of his house the other day and as luck would have it the ladder slipped and he fell 10 feet straight down!  He landed on his feet and had nothing more than a few bruises to show for it.  Most people would have suffered broken bones for sure.  Especially someone his age would have probably had multiple broken bones.  I mean people his age break their hips from falling on the ground while walking let alone from 10 feet above!  In my opinion he did not suffer any broken bones due to the massive increase in bone density due to heavy deadlifts and squats.  That is one of the big benefits of weight training is the increased bone density.  this is especially important for the people at risk for osteoporosis.  The bone, tendon and ligament density improves tremendously with the proper weight training program.  You must pick the correct exercises and loading to maximize the increase in bone density.  He even tells me himself that he is 100 percent sure that if it wasn’t for weight training then he more than likely would have suffered serious injuries from the fall and I believe it.

So how is the best way to increase bone density?  Well first of all…with weight training.  Using free weights is highly recommended as it puts more forces through the bones.  Also exercises like squats and deadlifts load the axial skeleton more than biceps curls for example.  Also exercise where you move more total weight will benefit more.  You must also make sure that the loading is heavy enough so that the bone has a reason to increase it’s density.  I tend to use reps mostly in the 3-15 range but that is just a general guideline, as I sometimes go as low as one or high as 100 depending on the program.

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