Muscle Building: No Contry for Old Men?

Online, February 15, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Some things get better with age, others don't. If you're a mature adult, which of those would you say best describes your level of fitness? Of course we aren't the same at 60 as we were at 30, but many of us are under the mistaken impression that a decrease in activity and an increase in girth are foregone conclusions of getting older.

Studies show, however, that many fitness losses, previously associated with age, correlate not with getting older, but with becoming less active. Ah-Haa!

Becoming less physically active can lead to bone density losses, weaker muscles, and reduced metabolic rates (speed at which your body burns calories). Conversely, keeping active contributes to both your physical and emotional well-being. You can focus on getting better with age by practicing four basic types of exercise - endurance, muscle conditioning, balance, and flexibility.

Endurance activities such as walking, swimming, lite-aerobics, dancing or stationary cardiovascular equipment, are all excellent forms of endurance building activities. They help your heart and lungs stay strong, burn fat, and build your stamina. Get at least 30 minutes of these types of activities on most or all days of the week. You may also break the 30 minutes up into three, 10-minute sessions.

Do your best to move continually and challenge yourself such that your breathing rate increases. You'll know you're exercising at the correct intensity by keeping this rule of thumb in mind: if you can talk without any trouble at all, you're not working hard enough, but if you can hardly speak, you're working too hard.

Muscle conditioning keeps us strong, able to lift ourselves from our chairs, traversing stairs, taking walks with our grandkids, and improving our overall level of functional fitness.
When you include resistance training to your fitness routine, one of the safest and most effective options is to attend a weight-lifting class specifically for seniors - such as the Silver Sneaker classes - or to work with a personal trainer.

Doing so will allow you to build muscle, increase your bone density, ease arthritis pain, and boost your rate of calorie burn while learning proper technique and avoiding the inevitable doctor visits that come from bad exercise form or improper technique. You may also consider using exercise videos such as the, "Sit and Be Fit," series as an excellent in-home, muscle-building option.

Once you found the secret of geting the body you want (for me it's just consistency and patience, here's a nice article about it), you just need to be aware of the natural changes of your body due to the aging process. If you want to get updated about the world of bodybuilding check us out at MuscleBuildingToday.org