Lifting weights in middle age and beyond can really amp up your health and fitness: You'll combat age-related muscle loss, reduce your risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, fend off chronic disease and improve your overall quality of life. Not only can older adults lift weights, they should lift weights to maintain their health and fend off degenerative conditions like osteoporosis.
Lifting weights is a great way for older adults to get in shape and fend off disease. Read more: Workouts for people who really hate working out Can older adults lift weights?
You can get your HIIT fix with a workout subscription app, a free YouTube channel or even from your favorite trainers on Instagram. High-intensity interval training is one ( extremely effective) way to do so. But if dumbbells and barbells just aren't your jam, you can certainly get fit with bodyweight workouts. Sure thing! Lifting weights is a fantastic way to build muscle mass, get stronger and become healthier overall. You can get fit with other forms of exercise, such as running and hiking, but lifting weights can help speed up the process. Goals with both endurance and strength components - like running an obstacle course race - require both types of training. Catching a theme? The answer to "how many reps should I lift?" coincides with your answer to " Is it better to lift light or heavy weights?" because of one simple reason - if you're lifting light weights, you should be doing more reps.Įndurance-based goals like improving your running capacity require more reps at lower weights, while strength-based goals like maxing out your deadlift require fewer reps at higher weights. Oh look, another question the answer to which depends on your goals. The number of reps you do depends on what type of exercise you're doing, and whether you want to increase strength or endurance.
How many reps should you do when lifting weights? If you don't have a specific goal in mind, you can benefit from lifting both heavy and light weights. If I wanted to run a marathon, I would lift light weight for a lot of reps to get my heart rate up and train my legs to handle stress for longer periods of time. For example, if I wanted to compete in a powerlifting competition, where the barbell back squat is one of the main events, I would lift heavy most of the time. One really isn't better than the other unless you're aiming for a very specific goal. It's beneficial to lift both light and heavy weights. Read more: Double the benefits of exercise by exercising outside Is it better to lift light weights or heavy weights? You don't have to do both at every gym session. In reality, the question of " Weights or cardio first?" requires individualized answers, but you can't go wrong with a balanced approach that includes both weights and cardio throughout the week. Do cardio first if your primary goal is to build speed or endurance. In simplest terms, lift weights first if your primary goal is to build muscle or get stronger. Your goals dictate whether you should hit the weights or hop on the treadmill first.
Read more: How to calculate and track your macros Should you lift weights or do cardio first? Just know that lifting weights isn't a magic ticket to weight loss: You must sustain a calorie deficit over time, so if you're lifting every day but still eating more calories than you burn, you won't see the progress you want. It's not an incredibly significant difference, despite long-standing myths, but it does help. This results in a greater resting metabolic rate (your metabolism when you're just sitting or sleeping) and more calories burned each day. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, so over time, as you build more muscle, your body will burn more calories at rest than it did before you built that muscle. Lifting weights has a unique weight loss advantage that makes it superior to other forms of exercise for weight loss: When you lift weights, you build muscle and lose fat. Any form of exercise can help you lose weight, weightlifting included - as long as you burn more calories than you consume each day, you'll remain in a calorie deficit and lose weight.