Doing This Type Of Exercise Today Creates 'Stronger Bones' Four Years Later, Per Science
There’s been a lot of buzz over the past few years about the perks of lifting heavy weights.
Now, a new study has even more reason for you to consider taking up strength training.
Researchers found that people who did resistance training with heavy weights had the longest-lasting benefits in leg strength, lasting up to four years.
There’s been a lot of buzz over the past few years about the perks of lifting heavy weights. Now, a new study has even more reason for you to consider taking up strength training: It can boost your muscles and bones up to four years later.
That’s the main takeaway from a new study published in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.
For the study, researchers assigned 369 recently-retired and healthy adults between the ages of 64 and 75 to follow one of three exercise programs for a year. Some lifted weights three times a week, and others did moderate-intensity training using body weight and resistance bands three times a week. The third group didn’t change their usual exercise routines.
Meet the experts: Doug Sklar is certified personal trainer and founder of New York City fitness training studio PhilanthroFIT. Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS is the co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab.
The researchers measured the study participants’ body fat, and bone and muscle strength at the start of the study, and again at the end of the year. That was followed by measurements at two and four years. After a year, some people kept doing their new fitness workout while others went back to their usual.
The researchers found that people who did resistance training with heavy weights had the longest-lasting benefits in leg strength, lasting up to four years. People in the moderate-intensity group had a slight drop in strength, although it wasn’t huge.
Why does this matter? Your bone and muscle strength naturally declines as you get older, raising the risk of fractures and injuries that can sideline you.
As a result of the findings, the study’s authors concluded that “in well-functioning older adults at retirement age, one year of heavy resistance training may induce long-lasting beneficial effects by preserving muscle function.” Basically, you can get some serious long-term perks from doing heavy lifting for a year and beyond.
That’s not shocking, according to Doug Sklar, a certified personal trainer and founder of New York City fitness training studio PhilanthroFIT. The findings are “confirmation of what many in the fitness industry know—strength training is highly beneficial,” he says.
Lifting weights overloads muscles and bones, Sklar explains. “That results in adaptations to be able to handle the stress of the weight,” he says. “Your muscles and bones become stronger.”
If you keep doing weight training, “your bones will get stronger and stronger—that will pay dividends for years,” says Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab.
How to start lifting weights
Matheny recommends kicking things off with bodyweight exercises, if you’re not currently doing strength training. That means doing things like planks, push-ups, and squats.
“From there, you can start adding weights—do lunges with weights, squat with dumbbells,” Matheny says.
If you’re not sure what you’re doing “talking to a qualified expert is a great jumping off point,” says Sklar. Many gyms offer free training sessions with personal trainers when you sign up for a membership (or for existing members), which can help you to learn the proper technique and lower your risk of injury.
Just take it one step at a time.
“Starting slow to allow your body to gradually adapt to the stresses of lifting weight is the best way to build confidence and allow yourself to progress safely,” Sklar says.
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