“Neither swimming nor walking, from the age of 50 it is absolutely necessary to do bodybuilding”

For decades, the medical and popular advice par excellence for people crossing the fifty-year-old barrier has been that they should walk every day, taking a walk or even sign up for swimming for being a really complete exercise. But we now know that they are completely insufficient if we want to achieve a good quality of life as the years continue to add up.

The experts. The new tests that we have on the table make it clear that strength is essential, and the Spanish coach Álvaro Puche, a graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, point that “neither swim nor walk. From the age of 50 it is absolutely necessary to do bodybuilding.”

A priori, this may sound radical to those who associate weights only with bodybuilding, but if we look at the current scientific evidence, Puche is not only right, but his warnings are fundamental for our longevity.

The real enemy. The main argument for changing the pool for dumbbells has a clinical name, what is “sarcopenia“, which is nothing more than the loss of muscle mass with all the consequences that it has. Starting in our third decade of life, this process of muscle loss starts and steps on the accelerator once we cross 50 years of age.

Walking or swimming at moderate intensity are excellent exercises for cardiovascular health, but they do not provide the stimulus necessary to stop muscle loss. Strength training, on the other hand, is the best clinically documented strategy for slowing and even reversing sarcopenia. And the sooner you start putting the brakes on, the better.

The data. Science overwhelmingly supports the need to lift weight in adulthood, and we are not talking about isolated data, since a great meta-analysis showed that dedicating the minimum possible time to strength training reduces overall mortality by between 15% and 21%. Specifically, the risk of cardiovascular death drops by 19%.

But you don’t have to live in the gym to do this, since science indicates that the benefit curve is “U” shaped. This means that the maximum benefit from exercise is achieved with just 60 minutes of strength exercise per week. Doing much more does not provide extra advantages, so the figure we have to achieve is not a great sacrifice nor a great expenditure of time.

in women It is even more important if possible, since when menopause is reached, the loss of the ‘protective’ function of estrogen causes bone density to decrease, to the point that it can end up causing osteoporosis. This is why strength exercise becomes a great way to significantly increase bone density, especially with exercises focused on the hip.

Lack of adhesion. Although in medical consultations it is increasingly common to ‘prescribe’ strength exercises, it is still a pending task for many. The problem may be the perception of older people, thinking that gyms or weight training are only for young people and that older people should only be left with the morning walk. A mistake that is blundering.

On the other hand, there may be a lack of greater awareness on the part of health professionals when it comes to recommending this type of exercise, since clearly explaining the benefits of developing strength can be a good incentive for everyone to decide to start this exercise.

Images | Andrea Piacquadio

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