Reviewing Resistance Training as an Intervention to Reduce Chronic Disease Risk

A sizable body of evidence points to the ability of resistance training undertaken in later life to reduce the risk of suffering age-related disease, and to improve the prognosis for existing diseases. In a glass half empty sort of a viewpoint, we might take this to mean that next to nobody puts in the effort necessary to maintain the body in an optimal state of health. A surprisingly sizable fraction of the declines in strength and fitness observed in the wealthier parts of the world are actually self-inflicted, not an inevitable consequence of aging. This is particularly apparent in comparisons with hunter-gatherer populations, where exercise and fitness persist into late middle age, and the declines that are inevitable are lessened. The progressive decline of skeletal muscle mass and strength with aging is collectively referred to as sarcopenia, and is prognostic for mobility disability and chronic disease risk. Regular physical activity (defined here as any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure) and exercise (physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive) are cornerstones in the primary prevention of chronic diseases and also for mitigating risk of mobility disability in older persons. Resistance exercise (RE) and aerobic exercise (AE) are modalities of exercise that are traditionally conceptualized as existing on opposite ends of an exercise continuum in terms of the phenotypes the...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs