Last week I talked about muscle and its role in metabolism.

But there's another reason I'm such a strong advocate for resistance training as we get older.

What happens if we don't do it?

For most of us, nothing dramatic happens overnight. That's actually part of the problem. We don't wake up one morning suddenly feeling weak. It's much more gradual.

Over the years, if we're not giving our muscles a reason to stay strong, we can slowly lose muscle mass and strength. And eventually, we start noticing it. Getting up off the floor isn't quite as easy. Carrying something heavy feels heavier than it used to. We avoid lifting things we once wouldn't have thought twice about. Balance might not be quite as good.

And things we used to take for granted start requiring a little more effort.

"But I'm still really active"

That's great. And I want you to stay active.

Walk.

Run.

Cycle.

Play golf.

Do your I.C.E. sessions.

Get your steps.

All of those things are valuable.

But here's the important bit:

Being active doesn't necessarily mean you're doing enough to maintain your strength.

Your muscles respond to what you ask them to do.

If you want them to remain strong, you need to regularly give them a reason to be strong.

That's where resistance training comes in.

We need to challenge the muscles.

Good strength training isn't simply moving some light weights around. We want resistance that progressively challenges you. As you become stronger, we gradually ask your body to do more. A little more weight. Another repetition. Better technique. Greater control.

Over time, your body adapts.

That's one of the reasons we record and monitor what our clients are lifting during our FIRE program.

We're not guessing.

We're trying to progressively get stronger.

And this becomes MORE important as we age

Sometimes people think strength training is something you do when you're younger.

I'd argue the opposite.

The older we get, the more valuable maintaining our strength becomes.

Because ultimately, we're not training just so we can lift heavier weights in the gym.

We're training so we can keep doing everything outside the gym. Travel. Garden. Play with the grandchildren. Carry the shopping. Get up off the ground. Play sport. Keep working. Keep living independently.

Strength gives us options.

And that's really what I'm interested in. I don't know exactly what I'll want to be doing when I'm 70 or 80. But I do know I want my body to give me as many choices as possible.

That's why strength training isn't something I'd wait to worry about later.

Build it now. And keep it.

Yours in health and fitness,

Chris

P.S. Our next 10 Week FIRE strength program starts Monday 5 October.

FIRE is our structured approach to resistance training, with progressive programming, coaching and tracking throughout the 10 weeks. You can do it at Excite, or online via the Excite App.

If you've been thinking you should be doing more strength training—or you're not sure where to start—just REPLY to this EMAIL with FIRE and I'll send you the information.