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ISBN: Print 978-1-64611-612-6 | eBook 978-1-64611-613-3
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This is for Joshua and Benjamin.
They are my why.
CONTENTS
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I have been a certified strength training coach since 2012, working primarily with women and men over the age of 40, and have been in the gym most of my adult life. At 62, I can honestly say that Im in the best shape of my life, and I attribute that almost exclusively to strength training. Youve chosen this book, which means that maintaining a strong body is important to you, too. Its my hope that this book will be a simple yet thorough guide for your commitment to building and maintaining strength in your body, which will in turn enable you to do all of those things you love to do for years to come. I congratulate you for being open-minded enough to give this form of exercise a chance.
Middle-age weight gain is directly tied to our loss of muscle mass, which begins for most of us in our mid-thirties. If we maintain our muscle mass, we keep our metabolism revved up. Its a win-win!
As you age, you may notice joint pain and weight gain setting in. Perhaps your range of motion isnt what it used to be. You may have been told that your bone density isnt what it ought to be. Maybe its more difficult maintaining good posture or that simple tasks take more energy, if youre able to do them at all. Or youve noticed a general weakness and tiring of the body or lax skin where muscle once was and accept it as an inevitable part of aging. But that doesnt have to be the case. The most heartening thing about strength training is that our bodies want to be strong. All we need to do is provide the stimulus.
By the end of this book, you will have completed six weeks of comprehensive strength training. I encourage you to start at the beginning and work through the book in the order in which it is written. The first chapters will help prepare you for a strong start and allow you to maintain your fitness after the six weeks is concluded.
You will find workout programs and tutorials for each exercise so that you can be sure that youre getting the most out of each exercise in a way that wont put your body at risk for injury.
Well focus on well-balanced, full-body workouts that you can do in the gym or at home beginning with a manageable 30-minute time frame; however, workouts can be adjusted, depending on your current fitness level.
Along with the exercise name, you will be given the muscles that are being targeted. If youre like me, youll be more motivated to do the exercise if youre aware of the benefits of that movement. Youll have step-by-step instructions along with a less challenging alternative, if thats what you need.
Youll also be given a safety tip and general pointers for the exercise when necessary, because keeping you safe and injury-free is my goal. Illustrations that demonstrate the exercises, combined with the tutorial page number, will make this process super easy for you!
We are told that we need to strengthen our bodies, but it isnt always clear to us why muscle strength is so important. In this chapter I will break down the reasons why we need to maintain, and in many cases rebuild, our muscle mass.
Perhaps you thought that those people who go to the gym were there purely for vanity reasons. That couldnt be further from the truth. There are numerous reasons strength training is imperative for our health, and its time we had a better understanding of just why that is.
TIME, YOUR BODY, AND THE SECRET WEAPON
Physically inactive people will begin to lose a small percentage of muscle each decade after their 30s, which contributes to general weakness and lower quality of life. This is a natural process known as sarcopenia.
