Put Some Muscle in Your Workout!
Reported August 03, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Pumping iron a couple times a week is just as important as aerobic exercise.
According to new guidelines set forth by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association, Americans should be doing strength training exercises on their major muscle groups at least twice a week. These physical activity guidelines were revised by an expert panel and replaced the original guidelines established in 1995.
“I think one of the things we’ve recently realized is strength training is helpful because it can reduce the abdominal fat in people, and abdominal fat we’ve been linking more and more to metabolic syndrome, which drastically increases your risk for heart disease,” Riva Rahl, M.D., medical director of the Cooper Wellness Program in Dallas, Texas, told Ivanhoe.
The strength training recommendations include doing eight to 10 different exercises, eight to 12 repetitions each, to work on major muscle groups, including chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, lower legs and arms.
Along with the newly recommended strength training plan, adults ages 18 to 65 should aim to do 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity five times a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity three times a week.
Dr. Rahl advises people who take exercise lightly to make it more of a priority. “I always tell people who say they don’t have time for exercise, ‘You don’t have time not to.’ If you can’t get 30 minutes, five times a week, if you strive for that and end up with two days a week, you’re certainly better off than doing none.”
Adults 65 and older should also try to follow the guidelines as well as their fitness ability will allow. They are advised to strength train using lighter weights and doing more repetitions.
“Older people can use their body weight, like doing lunges, or even lifting a can of beans. There are a lot of things you can do short of going to the gym and trying to bench press 200 pounds. Get creative, use the stairs,” said Dr. Rahl.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Riva Rahl, M.D.