A previous post talked about Harry’s Rules. Harry’s Rule #3 is: Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.

By serious, he means lifting heavy weights, which of course is all relative to your age, weight, and level of fitness. By heavy weights, he means a weight that you can lift only 8 – 10 times to complete failure (you can’t do one more repetition, or rep)

Why heavy weights? What’s the benefit? For starters — anti-aging.

From age forty, you can begin to lose 0.3% – 0.5% of bone mass per year. Not a lot in one year, but like compound interest, this adds up quickly over time. Lifting heavy weights helps to preserve bone density much more so than the two glasses of milk per day the milk marketing boards would have you believe.

Heavy weights help to preserve, build, and rebuild muscle mass. They cause tearing of muscle cells which in turn causes the body to repair the cells, restoring them to an even stronger state. Breakdown. Regenerate. Growth. Youth.

As you age, joints tend to weaken. Tendons and ligaments shorten. Heavy weights strengthen the soft tissues in the joints, giving you more stability and power.

But perhaps the biggest benefit of lifting heavy weights is the significant improvement in neuro-connector strength and coordination.

We have all heard the too-common story about the senior citizen who falls, breaks a hip, and dies within a year. Falling is a serious concern as we approach our sixties. And this is where strength training can play a huge role in the aging process.

Lifting heavy weights can prevent nerve decay. It strengthens balance, power, and muscle coordination centres in the brain. It re-integrates the brain-body connection to increase balance and power. All of this adds up to significantly increasing the potential of a better quality of life as you age. You can move. You can climb the stairs. Carry the groceries. Play with the grandkids.

How do I start? What’s involved in a strength training program? Stay tuned. Tomorrow’s post will cover off how to get started on a strength training program of your own.