For many older adults, resistance training may not be part of their daily routine, but a new position statement suggests it is vital to improving their health and longevity.
“When you poll people on if they want to live to 100 years old, few will respond with a ‘yes’,” says Maren Fragala, Ph.D., director of scientific affairs at Quest Diagnostics and lead author of the position statement.
“The reason mainly being that many people associate advanced age with physical and cognitive decline, loss of independence and poor quality of life,” adds Mark Peterson, Ph.D., M.S., FACSM, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Michigan Medicine and one of the senior authors of the statement.
The position statement, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, and supported by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, highlights the benefits of strength and resistance training in older adults for healthier aging.
Read more at Michigan Medicine University of Michigan