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 Resistance or muscle training is often thought of as body building, sometimes in a negative way. Nothing could be further from the truth!! Most of us need to improve our muscular strength and muscular endurance because our muscles are there to move our joints and support our skeleton. Weak muscles will inadvertently lead to Back Pain, Neck, Knee and other Joint Problems. Contact me for advice.
It is a sad fact that 1 in 3 men and half of women aged 65-74 do not have sufficient strength in their dominant leg to exert a force required to lift half of their body weight, i.e. rise from a chair without using their arms to assist them!! Or to put it in a different way: they cannot walk up a flight of stairs without holding onto a bannister for support.
Resistance Training is equally important for men and women. The constant pull of the muscles on the bones will strengthen bones and therefore help protect women from Osteoporosis.
The government recommendations to improve muscular strength is for two sessions per week where you work 8 to 10 different muscle groups for 8 to 12 repetition to 75% of what is known as the 1 repetition maximum (1RM).
For muscular endurance training you would keep the resistance lower but perform up to 30 repetitions.
These important exercises won't take you much more than 1/2 hour, which everyone of us should be able to set aside. Also, there is no need to sign up at your local gym. All these exercises can be done in the comfort of your own home under the guidance of a qualified YMCA Personal Trainer.
It is important that only a qualified Fitness Professional instructs you because, as I have mentioned above, muscles are there to support the skeleton and move joints and if you adopt a wrong workout technique you may injure yourself. This is even more important if you should have any ailments like for instance Lower Back Pain, a painful Knee Joint, Neck Problems or suffer with Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Parkinson Disease or Fibromyalgia. In this case it is advisable to employ a Personal Trainer who is also qualified in GP Exercise Referrals and has a good track record in improving the client's health. View their comments. Your instructor should also be a member of the Register of Exercise Professionals (REP) to ensure a Highly Professional Service.
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