Weightlifting helps seniors build muscle

Beginning at middle age people lose about one per cent of muscle mass per year. This results in a loss of strength, an increase in injures from falling and the possibility of broken bones. But weightlifting can help restore muscle mass.

In studies that have been done in the past it was found that older people do not build muscle as well from their food as young people do. Researchers at the University of Nottingham in England did a study of two groups. The studies were carried out by Michael Rennie, Professor of Clinical Physiology, and Dr Emilie Wilkes, and their colleagues. The groups were eight young people with an average age of 25 and eight older people with an average age of 65. The study groups were tested before breakfast and then given a small amount of insulin to duplicate what their body's reaction would have been after eating breakfast. According to Spero News Professor Rennie said, "We tagged one of the amino acids (from which proteins are made) so that we could discover how much protein in leg muscle was being broken down. We then compared how much amino acid was delivered to the leg and how much was leaving it, by analysing blood in the two situations. "The results were clear. The younger people's muscles were able to use insulin we gave to stop the muscle breakdown, which had increased during the night. The muscles in the older people could not." Rennie added , "In the course of our tests, we also noticed that the blood flow in the leg was greater in the younger people than the older ones. This set us thinking: maybe the rate of supply of nutrients and hormones is lower in the older people? This could explain the wasting we see." What was found is older people need to do weight training. According University of Nottingham Professor Michael Rennie, "I recommend they should go to the gym and do weight training. They will stay lean and strong." You don't have to do a lot of weight training. People in our research were in their 60s and 70s and they managed to do it twice a week." Beth Phillips, a PhD student who worked with Professor Rennie, found that three sessions a week over 20 weeks rejuvenated the leg blood flow responses of the older people. "They became identical to those in the young," said Professor Rennie.