Anything is Possible
Whether you are 29, 49, or 99, you have the ability to build strength beyond what your current capabilities are. This may come as a surprise if you’ve always felt that building strength comes incredibly difficult for yourself OR have been surrounded by others who make it look so easy. By the end of this article, you will be armed with the knowledge that you need to build strength at any age. These tips are incredibly simple and can be applied to your life today.
How to Build Strength at Any Age
Understand that You Can Do It
Are you currently breathing? Do you have a pulse? If you answered yes to both of those questions, you have the ability to gain strength. Humans are designed to adapt to demands put onto it, allowing us to recover and become stronger. Although it sometimes is a little harder as you get older, if you can move any part of your body, getting stronger is possible for individuals of any age. Understanding that you can actually get stronger, allows you to follow the next few tips with more intention.
Resistance Training is Your Friend
So how do you put demands on your body to become stronger? One of the best ways to do this is through resistance training. It doesn’t matter what type of resistance training as free weights, machines, or even exercise classes all offer a great opportunity for you to train your muscles. The key is to do exercises and loads that challenge you beyond your current capabilities, allowing you to get stronger from the movements. If you’re looking for a low impact exercise program to start you off, we created an excellent one below.
Make Protein and Calories a Priority
If you are wanting to build strength and recover properly from your resistance training, making sure you eat enough calories and protein will help you to do this. As a general rule of thumb, 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is sufficient. Your calorie goals will differ based off your age, gender, and activity level. I will link a calorie calculator below for you to find out your current energy needs. Once you do that, you can move onto some of the most important tips to improve your strength.
Just One Thing..
Before we look at those tips, if you want to continue to gain strength at any age, you need to subscribe to our blog. We create all types of articles helping individuals with all abilities do this, in addition to navigating you through the health, gym, and fitness industry.
Prioritize Sleep
Protein and calories aren’t the only way to recover from your resistance training, as getting sufficient sleep will allow you to recover as well. Shooting for at least 7-9 hours IN BED is crucial to repairing your body from the demands of the day, in addition to the resistance training. Beyond strength, improving your sleep quality will greatly affect your mental health and clarity as well.
Challenge Yourself
Something that happens as individuals get older, is that they quit challenging their bodies. You need to continually challenging your body, otherwise it will get extremely weak, very quickly. Going for long walks, walking on unsteady terrain, and bending your body in different directions will keep the strength in those specific areas. If you don’t use the strength you have, you will lose it very rapidly. And although this point is important, there one more thing that is crucial.
Redefine Strength For Yourself
Regardless of where you are at, you need to redefine what getting stronger is. If you currently can barely go up a flight of stairs without getting winded, don’t get down on yourself when others do it with ease. Create strength goals that are unique to your current capability level, but will also challenge you as well.
One Last Point
We talked about a lot of different ways to challenge your body and help recover with proper sleep in this article. If you’re needing some more guidance on these topics, I’m going to link a couple more posts below that will help!
Chronic Insomnia Relief: BEST Sleep Hygiene Tips You Aren’t Doing
Chronic Insomnia Imagine this. You are tossing and turning in your bed, fighting another restless night of sleep. Then, your alarm bolts you out of bed, prompting you to tackle the exhausting day that life has in store for you. Whether you are trying to tackle some errands with energy, or simply stay awake at…
Get The BENEFITS from a Week of Exercise (In ONLY 2 Days)
Getting enough exercise to live a healthy and long life may seem like an incredibly daunting task. “Why would I want to slave away for hours at the gym?” you might ask.. This is the mindset that many individuals have about improving their overall health and fitness. They believe that they need to sacrifice their…
#strengthtraining #seniorfitness #assistedliving #physicaltherapy #strength #buildstrength #lowimpactworkout #seniorcitizens #fitness #gym
