Why older adults should not worry about sore muscles after training – new research

Only 2% of people Over 70 at the age of the strength train at least twice a week. This is disturbing, because age -related muscle loss can increase the risk social isolationIN fallsIN Loss of independence and even early death.

They are there Many reasons Why older people can avoid strength training, such as lack of knowledge about exercises, lack of access to the gym and a mark. Another main reason is the fear that exercises can make muscles and joints Even more sore than they are already.

But the good news is that older adults cannot experience muscle soreness after training than young adults. In fact, Our last study was found Older adults actually experienced less muscle soreness after exercises than young adults. This study refutes the widespread belief that muscle aging is less resistant.

We combined data from 36 studies, in which a total of 389 younger adults and 390 older adults were analyzed in order to compare their experiences related to exercise muscle damage. We have analyzed three different types of research in our research, including those in which participants reported in terms of muscle pain, tests that analyzed the markers of muscle damage in the blood, and research analyzing muscle function the day after training.

We have discovered that older adults do not experience more loss of muscle function after exercise compared to younger people. Perhaps, most importantly, muscle soreness was consistently lower in the elderly after training. Older adults experienced only two -thirds of pain, which young people did after 48 hours and only a third of muscle soreness after 72 hours compared to younger people.

Because we looked at 36 different studies, not all of them compared the same age groups. But generally they compared younger adults (people aged 20) to older adults (people aged 30 to 60).

We also discovered that biological sex seemed to play a role in recovering muscle functions, and men show slightly greater losses in muscle function after exercise than women. This effect was true both in the case of the upper part of the body and the lower body, as well as the strength of the body and aerobic training.

These discoveries question the widespread belief that muscle aging slowly or is more susceptible to damage caused by effort. This misunderstanding often discourages older adults from regular physical activity due to fears of prolonging soreness or weakness. Discoveries also show us that older adults may not need longer regeneration periods between training-in general enabling more frequent or intensive training sessions, which leads to better long-term health results.

How to start

Although our study shows that older adults cannot experience muscle damage more compared to younger adults, this does not mean that the elderly will not experience soreness when they start exercising.

There are two important factors that can increase muscle damage (including pain) after exercise.

The first is new. If you haven’t performed a specific exercise before (and even for a long time), it is More likely that you will feel sore For a few days later, if you overdo it. This is because the new movement or type of exercise challenges our muscles. This means that the body causes a cascade of processes that build new muscles. Although it temporarily makes us sore, ultimately makes it easier for us to deal with when we do this exercise again.

The second is “Eccentric” muscle spasms. We frighten through eccentric cramps when you try to slow down weight (imagine the phase down of the biceps – your biceps is working on slowing down the stick from dropping to the floor). Another example of eccentric muscle movement is running down.

Eccentric muscle spasms cause greater damage than other movements, mainly because they are subject to muscle fibers for extremely high loads of forces, which are often distributed unevenly. This can excessively draw and disturb the integrity of our muscles, causing stress and damage. But although this leads to pain in a short period, these changes ultimately strengthen us.

To overcome the problem of being new in exercises, you should facilitate the new exercise program. . Program for a sofa up to 5k It is a great example of this. This program leads people to gradually build their aerobic efficiency.

For example, you can start with a 5-minute walk on Monday. If you feel good on Wednesday, instead you can try a 10-minute walk. This means that each walk is only five additional minutes of innovative exercises, allowing the body to gradually build fitness without much risk of pain.

The same rule applies to eccentric exercises that we could do during strength training. Start easily. For an older beginner, he will simply get up from the chair and return to sitting can be a starting point. This is a very useful move because it uses our main leg muscles. The possibility of lifting a chair is also a huge predictor Independence in later life. Another advantage of this exercise is that you can always return to the place if you lose your balance – so it’s quite safe.

If you can do five in a row on Tuesday, see you if you can do two parties (we call these sets) five on Thursday. Like aerobic fitness, you will soon improve muscle strength. For the upper body, it can be the beginning of light weights above the head and back to the knee. You can also use cans of unopened beans if you don’t have any equipment at home. Try to perform these activities based on the strength of at least two days a week.

The results of our study and much more suggest that exercises do not have an age limit. Transfer more to Live longer and healthier. Goal for 150 minutes of activity every week, add strength training twice a week – and most importantly, Find a training you love. When you like this, it is more likely that you will stick to it.