Gain Strength With Resistance Training Equipment

How many seniors would think that strength training is more important now than when they were in their 20’s? If they haven’t yet figured it out, they should. Every decade past the age of 25 men and women begin to lose muscle mass. With osteoporosis knocking on the aging population one would think to take a closer look at what are the ways to combat this affliction. It’s never to late in life to start a strength training program. Many senior centers have personal trainers to help those who have neglected their bodies.

Studies have shown that the muscle fiber of those in their seventies are similar to those in their twenties. So there is hope to those frail seniors who are and have been for many years out of shape. Building up a senior’s muscle mass helps cut down of injuries due to falls. Aging effects a person’s balance and flexibility. Stamina wanes. And the muscles surrounding joints become stiff. Pilates is a gentle form of exercise that helps those of any age gain strength in the joint areas as well as throughout the entire body.

Pilates rehab often associated with physical therapists because it is helps strengthen the body’s posture, flexibility and balance. In fact Pilates was first used as rehab therapy. Joseph Pilates, the creator of this exercise, was a nurse in the German army during World War One. It was there that he developed a method of strengthening the muscles of soldiers wounded in the war.

He used springs fixed to patient’s beds thus the first Pilates equipment was created. Interestingly, the soldiers who were given the exercises using these springs healed and recovered faster than the soldiers who did nothing. Rehabilitation meant getting creative with what you had. Pilates develops flexibility in joints and helps to keep them “oiled up” by gently moving the joints through their ranges of motion. This is particularly important for arthritis sufferers. Keeping a full or near full range of motion in the joints is immensely important to all people, but to arthritis sufferers in particular.

Today Pilates equipment has come a long way from those days of springs attached to hospital beds. Now that once apparatus is called a reformer. With other Pilates equipment like Pilates rings and exercise mats along with instructional DVDs on a multitude of Pilates exercises, this exercise form has evolved into the mainstream. Along with exercise balls, and resistance bands one can achieve so much from implementing Pilates exercises into a fitness program.

Pilates rehab works for many reasons. The attention paid to good form is a perfect way for an injured client to gain strength in injured muscles. Pilates is gentle on the joints and won’t over-stress an already stressed body. It also strengthens the smaller muscle groups that support joints and bony structures, and it builds an awareness to balance, chronically weak and imbalanced muscles gain equal strength. Pilates rehabilitation can be considered preventative medicine. Keeping the body strong now will help avoid injuries tomorrow and staying free of injury is an important benefit as we age.

Most instructors are not trained nor qualified to make a diagnosis for injured clients. Their job is to work in conjunction with physical therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, or anyone in the medical profession. Certified Pilates instructors are there to simply teach. The method in itself is rehabilitative and therapeutic. Most people, no matter their age or level of fitness, can benefit from Pilates workouts. We all have weak links in our muscular skeletal makeup. A Pilates exercise routine is an option to balance out our weaknesses and get us, and keep us, on our feet.

Are you suffering from muscle tone loss? Start strength training today and watch your muscle endurance improve. Say goodbye to weak muscles. Wake them up with some strength conditioning equipment.