More women lifting weights

Reference to the article, 'More women lifting weights', on The Straits Times dated on 14 Dec 05.

Do you do strength training? When I was in my secondary school days, I carried weights to give me additional push when I sprinted on the tracks. Now I still carry dumb-bells but not as regular ;p

This article encourages me to do more strength training ;-) Encourage all to do it too beside cardiovascular exercise like running or swimming.

An extract from the article:

Women and men begin to lose muscle in their late 30s. Over 10 years, a person can easily lose 1kg of muscle.

For women, such muscle loss is a major factor in osteoporosis because bones weaken as they are asked to carry less and less weight.

The muscle loss also leads to falls in old age, a leading cause of accidental death in people 65 and older. It also depletes a woman's energy and ability to enjoy routine activities.

Strength training, on the other hand, actually helps a woman have a more youthful body, Dr Nelson says. It restores muscle mass lost to the natural ageing process.

Her studies have shown that weightlifting relieves symptoms of osteoporosis and arthritis, and helps symptoms of sleeping disturbances, Type II diabetes and depression.

Strength training, which usually consists of weightlifting but also incorporates core body training, works because new muscle tissue is produced when muscle cells are required to lift something heavy on a repetitive basis.

The load, or the amount of weight lifted, signals muscle cells to produce more protein. It cannot happen just from consuming more protein, she says.

The extra weight from the load also causes subtle neurological changes in the muscle tissue, she says, and helps the fibre become more synchronised.

It is those subtle, cellular changes that lead to better balance and strength over a period of time.