subject: Are You Exercising Your Muscles Properly? [print this page] Are You Exercising Your Muscles Properly?
Seventy percent of us do not do enough proper exercise. We may wonder what the risks of this are and why it is important. Most of us are aware that there will be consequences down the road somewhere but it is like parking in a tow-away area or speeding in our car, we often think we can get away with it.If we do not give our muscles the 'work' that they have been designed to do, we will lose somewhere between 5-7 pounds of them each decade. This loss slows down our metabolism (our body's engine) and body fat levels are increased when the food we eat can no longer be used up for energy by the muscles. The combination of muscle loss and fat gain has a huge impact on health over time. As the ratio of body composition changes (muscle/fat ratio) physical function declines and if nothing is done to rebuild and strengthen the muscular system disability to some degree or another becomes a reality. As the human body weakens all of its systems weaken as well including the immune systems and the danger of serious illness increases.Keeping your muscles strong is the stimulus that gets every cell, tissue and organ in the human body to work at its best. If you are not active it affects all the body's systems negatively right down at cellular level. This is the bit that is really important as your ability to transfer oxygen and nutrients from the bloodstream to the cells is diminished.Even older people can increase their strength with a proper strength training program at a similar rate as people who are much younger. As much as 40 percent strength increases have been recorded in people in their 90's so age is never a factor. Strength training is so effective only 2-3 sessions each week are needed and in as little as six months of regular training 20-30 years of decline in function can be reversed.When a person turns 65 they can expect to live anywhere from 15-25 years longer. Just how active and enjoyable those years are do depend largely on how well we take care of ourselves. We invest time and expense on other things like our general appearance, our teeth, hair style and other personal items and it would seem logical that we should dedicate the same attention to the care of our body and it functional strength.If you are like many other people and have never engaged in an intentional strength training program before in your life, you may wonder why start now? It is a fact of our modern day sedentary lifestyles with all of the natural physical activity that has been removed that as you get older your muscle tissue and strength dwindles.Strength training exercise can reverse this process and will also lighten your heart's workload, help prevent and treat pre-diabetes and even diabetes, help you lose and manage your weight, improve your ability to do your day-to-day activities, help you sleep better and ease stiffness from arthritis.To be effective, strength training must become an ongoing part of your life, and 2-3 sessions each week will do the job. After just a few weeks you will notice you have more energy, will be able to breathe better and feel so well and healthy. These are all the things that add so much value to life and enable us to enjoy it more for as long as possible.
