Strength training for skeletal integrity

​Incorporating strength training into daily life can make a difference in how bone is built and maintained. People who are sedentary, either because of work or by choice, will start losing muscle mass as early as age 25. Strength exercises and routines can combat this loss and help with movement and balance. Avoiding injury is key!!!

If you are recovering from an injury involving soft tissue damage, or when muscle imbalances occur, strength training is not recommended. Best to let the injury heal fully before launching into a rigorous exercise or strength training program. When there is a muscle imbalance (usually one side of the body has muscles that are overdeveloped/hypertonic), retraining of muscles, not a general strengthening, should be considered. Strength training will only tighten muscles that are already in a shortened and tight position. 

Kids/teens: activities, not workouts, will help establish a preference for physical movement and develop muscles.
Late teens/20s: Mix high impact workouts with lower-impact activities for a varied routine that won’t over strain joints, ligaments or muscles.
30s and 40s: Maintain muscular strength and bone density without pushing hard in competitive sports and risking injury (healing takes longer). Incorporate workouts for balance and mobility, such as yoga, pilates or gyrotnics.
Late 40s/50s: Strength training 2-3 times/week, interval training, and stretching.
60+: body-weight or light resistance strength workouts, low impact aerobics.

(Source: "Strength for Life," Spring 2015 Natural Choices Magazine)