No, this workout won’t blow out your knees.
If you’ve been following our ongoing series about living your longest, fullest life, you know lots of research on this topic comes with caveats, exceptions, and even some uncertainty. But we’ve got good news: When it comes to physical fitness, the science couldn’t be clearer.
“Exercise is one of the few things for which there’s very little ambiguity or disagreement among experts — and you can’t say that about much in human biology,” says Peter Attia, MD, a Canadian-American physician and author of the recent New York Times bestseller, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.
As we’ve explained, guidance about questions like the best nutritional strategy for longevity can vary widely depending on who you’re asking. But exercise? That’s a totally different story.
The benefits of exercise have been documented again and again in studies over the years — and unlike other areas of study, like sleep or vitamin intake, these results virtually never contradict themselves. Exercise, it seems, is about as objectively healthy as it gets. The question, then, is what type of exercise is best for seniors looking to live longer, and why.
Below, Dr. Attia explains why he’s such a proponent of strength training as the ultimate longevity hack. He also offers some tips and tricks about how to get into a good routine, and why you can (and should) get started at any age.
Why strength training is the best exercise for seniors to live longer
“The benefits of strength training for aging really can’t be overstated,” Dr. Attia says. He’s using an umbrella term for a wide range of physical exercises that are designed to help you build muscular strength and endurance. Common strength training exercises include weight lifting, Pilates, and yoga. The “big five” of strength training is another term used often in the fitness space, and it describes the basic exercises that can be made infinitely easier or more difficult, depending on how much weight you add to them.
The big five of strength training:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Pull-ups
- Bench press
- Shoulder press
In addition to increasing your physical fitness (who doesn’t want to look like Ryan Gosling in Barbie?), strength training offers numerous other health benefits, including increased flexibility, better balance, improved mental health and mood regulation, and a significantly decreased risk of common life-threatening issues, like heart disease.
To put the extent of those benefits into perspective, Dr. Attia offers some helpful — and frankly, startling — comparisons.
“If you smoke, your risk of lung cancer is at least 15 times higher than a non-smoker, and your risk of dying in any given year is 40 percent higher than a non-smoker,” he says. “If you have type two diabetes, your risk of dying in any given year is about 25 percent higher than someone without. When you do that same type of analysis on strength training, the numbers are even more impressive than those two examples.”
According to Dr. Attia, if you compare people in the top 20 percent of muscular strength in a given age and sex bracket to the bottom 20 percent of strength in that same bracket, you can see “about a two-and-a-half to threefold difference” in your risk of dying any given year. Even better news than that statistic? You don’t have to become a full-time bodybuilder in order to reap the benefits of strength training. Quite the opposite: A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that a mere 30-60 minutes a week of strength training exercises is enough to lower your risk of cancer and heart disease by up to 20 percent.
Establishing a strength training routine is especially important as you age because we tend to lose muscle mass over the decades, starting in our 30s and 40s. So if you aren’t doing strength training, it’s not just that you aren’t receiving the amazing benefits of the exercise, but you’re also actively getting weaker over time. Luckily, it’s extremely easy to get started with a manageable routine, even if you’ve never picked up a dumbbell in your life.
Easy strength training tips and tricks for beginners
“For a person who has never done anything before, I would typically recommend they start on machines,” Dr. Attia suggests. “Machines are safer because the range of motion is predetermined.”
And once you get to your local gym to give this equipment a spin, don’t stress about pushing yourself beyond your limits. A manageable exertion on different areas of your body — including your legs, back, and arms — is all it takes.
“Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to hammer heavy weights,” Dr. Attia notes. “You don’t need to work out until you’re sore or feel like your arms and legs are being ripped off your body. The goal is to get into some really simple programming, and then slowly advance your level of skill. Remember: You’re building your confidence along with your muscle mass.”
Eventually, the goal is to have a strength training routine that you commit to over time. You could work with a strength trainer or physical therapist, or you could download some strength training plans online, or you could speak to an employee at your local gym to get advice. (This routine from Katie’s Pilates instructor is a great option for beginners.) Of course, all of this will depend on your body and your history of both exercising and injuries.
“The goal for the first six months is just to get in the gym and develop a sense of routine around this,” Dr. Attia says. “Once you’ve accomplished that task, then you can reevaluate and make a plan for moving forward.”
How to check on your current muscle mass and bone density
If one of the main goals of strength training is to retain or increase your muscle mass and bone density, then you’re likely wondering how to measure those things to begin with.
“Ideally, you should know your muscle mass and bone density before you start an exercise plan, so you have numbers to measure against over time,” Dr. Attia says. He recommends asking your doctor for a DEXA (dual x-ray absorptiometry) scan, which measures your bone density, muscle mass, and fat tissue percentages.
“I would argue you want to aim to be at least at the 75th percentile in the lean mass index for your age and sex,” Dr. Attia suggests. He also recommends a V02 max test — one of the best indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness, which helps determine important health stats like your current level of fitness, your ideal heart rate numbers for different workout levels, and more.
The most important thing to remember, Dr. Attia says, is that “it’s never too late to start making changes.” In fact, his own aging process has helped him in creating a healthy exercise routine, rather than hindering it.
“I’m 50 years old and I’m not half the man I was when I was 25, and I’m readily aware of that,” he explains. “So I think my motivation is sufficiently higher now that I’m 50 than it was when I was 25 to be thinking about the long game, and actually acting on it.”
Still a bit reluctant about doing a pull-up for the first time since high school? Consider these parting words from Dr. Attia.
“When we talk about exercising and strength training, the health benefits are unparalleled by any other lifestyle intervention, good or bad, that we have,” Dr. Attia says. “And we’re not even talking about the impact that these exercises have on your quality of life. I always say to patients — half jokingly, but also quite seriously — that if all this exercise didn’t lengthen your life by one minute, it would still be worth it in terms of the quality it brings in that final decade of your life.”
Want more wisdom about living your longest life? Catch up on our full longevity series right here, featuring advice on nutrition, fitness, mental health, and more — and subscribe to Wake-Up Call to stay in the loop as our reporting continues.
