A good strength-training program can make everyday activities easier and keep your muscles young.

Cardiovascular exercises such as brisk walking and cycling are important for reducing your heart disease risk and helping you run for a plane or keep up with your kids. But most daily tasks, such as getting up easily from a chair or scaling a short flight of stairs, require muscle power, not endurance.

Any everyday activity that’s under one minute is largely strength-dependent,” says David Sandler, president and cofounder of Strength Pro Inc. and author of Weight Training Fundamentals.

A balanced workout routine incorporates both aerobic and strength training—but many exercisers don’t give strength training its due.

“It’s something everybody should do because it can improve your quality of life and your ability to stay mobile and independent as you get older,” says Sandler. “With regular strength training, we found that 60- and 70-year-olds can function like 30-year-olds who haven’t been training.”

It’s never too late to begin strength training, but the earlier you do, the better. Just 30 minutes three days a week will make a big difference.

Find a Fitness Pro
Strength-training equipment can be hard to figure out, so don’t go it alone.

“Look for a gym with certified personal training staff who can give you advice on proper form and take you through the machines,” says Sandler.

If you’ve never worked out on them, paying for a single personal training session is a good idea. Some health clubs provide a free tour of the equipment and tell you how to use it.

Work Your Entire Body
Start by warming up for five minutes or so on a treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical machine. “That gets your heart rate up and your blood flowing so your body is prepared to hit the weights,” Sandler says.

Then select machines that work your entire body, such as the bench and leg press; hip and leg extensions and leg curls for your lower body, and lat pull down; the seated row machine; and the chest press machine for your chest, triceps, and biceps.

Choose a weight that’s light enough for you to do 12 reps, but just barely. Do one set on each machine at that setting. Then adjust the weight up or down, if necessary, and do the circuit again as many as three times through, Sandler says.

Keep track of what you’ve done on a note pad, Blackberry, or another electronic device. That way, when you come back to the machines in a day or so, you’ll know where to begin.

Change It Up
Aim to weight train three days a week, with a day or two off in between. Try to stick with that schedule for up to eight weeks before taking breaks of more than two days, Sandler says.

When you start to feel as if the reps are getting easier at the weight you’re lifting, change the number of pounds, the number of reps, the angle of the machine, or all of them—or add free weights to your workout. Wait a month or so before changing your routine again.

“The harder you work, the more damage you do to muscle tissue, which is the catalyst for muscle development,” Sandler says. But think small: “Subtle changes are enough to get the body to respond again.”

If you take a weight-training class, don’t drop your solo weight-training routine. “Strength-training classes have their place,” Sandler says. “They’re social and active. But true effectiveness comes from sitting at a machine or using free weights and dumbbells.”

Sandra Gordon spoke with David Sandler, president and cofounder of Strength Pro Inc. and author of Weight Training Fundamentals, Human Kinetics, 2003, $15.95. For more information, visit www.strengthpro.com.

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