Strength Training Over 50: Why It’s More Important Than Cardio
When I meet a new patient, I always ask about their level of physical activity, including exercise. When it comes to people 50 and older, the answer is often, “I walk or run x amount of miles/time a week.” So they spend a significant amount of time on their feet performing what is often challenging physical activity, but they come to therapy with complaints of difficulty getting out of chairs or carrying groceries. They often report balance issues and fear of falling.
Research shows that nearly 30% of adults over 70 experience difficulty with everyday movements like walking, rising from a chair, or climbing stairs. So this raises an important question: if they’re exercising regularly, why do these challenges persist? Is walking or running alone enough as we age? And if not, what might be missing—and how could addressing it improve overall quality of life?
What Happens to Your Body after 50?
Let’s discuss the age-related changes that occur in later decades of life
Sarcopenia: The Silent Muscle Loss
A major contributor to quality of life is sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength as we age, and it is strongly linked to difficulty with daily activities, poor quality of life, and death. More simply put, it is age-related muscle loss for this discussion. Typically, people lose 3-8% of their muscle mass per decade after 30, accelerating after 50. It makes sense that if we lose muscle, we lose strength, and it becomes more difficult to move.
Bone Density Decline
Bone density also declines, and the risk of osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease, increases, particularly for women, though men are also at risk. Osteoporosis increases the risk of fracture, and, combined with sarcopenia, the risk of a fracture from falls is increased.
Metabolic Changes
As we age, the body also undergoes various metabolic changes, leading to a reduced resting metabolic rate, meaning you use less energy at rest. Loss of muscle mass contributes as muscle requires a significant amount of energy to use and maintain. As a result, body weight and body fat generally increase from ages 40 to ~70 and then stabilize.
Balance and Fall Risk
Balance declines and fall risk increases with age. Approximately 30-40% of people over the age of 70 fall each year, resulting in mild to severe injuries, from bumps and bruises to fractures and/or death. This is compared to 18% in young adults. Falls are serious business. There are several reasons for this, but the one we want to focus on here is sarcopenia, as it increases the risk of falls, as mentioned above.
With these things in mind, the “use it or lose it” principle applies. With resistance training, we can maintain or even improve muscle mass, bone density, and balance.
Why Cardio Alone Isn’t Enough
Let me start by saying cardio (running, walking, cycling, etc.) is an excellent form of exercise, with amazing benefits for heart health, endurance, and mood. Over the last few decades, this has been the most popular form of exercise, perhaps because it is familiar, accessible, and focuses on heart health. What cardio doesn’t do is build muscle, increase bone density, and prevent sarcopenia. Even though most forms of cardio are weight-bearing exercises, they do not create enough of a stimulus to signal to your body to maintain muscle and bone. Cardio will keep your heart healthy and will help you walk or run longer, but it won’t help you lift your grandchildren, get up from the floor, or, more generally, maintain your independence.
The Unique Benefits of Strength Training After 50
Strength training has many unique benefits. It preserves and builds muscle mass. No other form of exercise adequately battles the age-related loss of muscle. The bone responds to load as well, increasing bone density with strength training. Metabolic health and blood sugar regulation improve. Strength training, combined with a healthy diet, can significantly improve or even reverse Type II diabetes in many cases. Because we are stronger and more stable, fall risk is reduced by 30-40%. Other surprising benefits of strengthening training include reducing chronic pain, helping with memory, focus, and decision-making, and improving overall quality of life and longevity.
“But I’ve Never Lifted Weights…
Despite memes online, strength training is one of the safest forms of exercise. Compared to running, weight lifting has significantly lower rates of injury, as shown here:
- Running: 10+ injuries per 1,000 hours are common, often due to high-impact, repetitive stress.
- Strength training: Very low injury rates, ranging from 0.2 to 3.1 per 1,000 hours.
Running injuries are most often overuse injuries due to repetitive impact compared to the slower, more controlled movements used during strength training, despite the heavier loads with weight lifting. However, if you ask most people, they would say strength training is more dangerous. The important thing is to find the right starting point. For many people, no weights are required when they start. Bodyweight exercises or resistance bands are often challenging enough at the beginning. Common exercises performed include sit-to-stands from a chair, wall push-ups, and rows with a resistance band. It’s important to focus on major movement patterns that we use in everyday life: squatting, hinging, pushing, and pulling, like these examples just mentioned. Strength training can be performed 2-3 times per week, allowing you to fit it in with any other regular activity you perform. Over time, you want to challenge your body more, gradually increasing the challenge. Recovery time is important too. The magic happens between sessions of strength training, as the body builds the tissue in response to the demands imposed on it by strength training. This is supported by good nutrition and adequate sleep.
The ideal Approach – Balance Both
You don’t need to choose between them. A mix of 2–3 days of strength training and 2–3 days of cardio each week works well for most people.. You can do them on separate days or the same day. It’s up to you. You get amazing benefits from both. And they complement each other very well. Improving your general strength will make you a better runner and prevent overuse injuries. Improving endurance can help improve strength training by helping recovery between sets and allowing increased total amount of work to be performed in a session.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
On your first day at physical therapy, we will perform an individualized assessment of your current strength and any functional limitations you may have. We will help you find the appropriate starting point for strength training for your current activity level. We will monitor you throughout for proper form to prevent any injury and apply modifications for any post-surgical or chronic conditions. Over time, we will work together to build your confidence to perform strength training at home or in the gym. Education is one of the most important aspects of this, helping you understand how to apply various parameters to exercise and create sustainable, long-term programs that will help you build a stronger, safer, and more resilient body.
Ready to start your strength training journey? Call us to learn how we can help you build a stronger, more independent future – so you can keep doing the activities you love for years to come.
