It's Never Too Late

No matter what your age, you can improve your level of fitness. Having strong muscles help you to maintain good posture, alleviate joint pain and even prevent osteoporosis; but as we get older our bodies begin to lose muscle mass and strength. However, studies show you are never too old to teach your muscles new tricks. According to a study in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, it was determined that women in their twenties and their sixties, made gains in the weight room at the same rate. Here are some tricks you can utilize in your routine to keep your muscles strong.

Firm Up Faster: Add 5 percent more weight to your reps. If you can do leg presses with 100 lbs now, for 2 consecutive sets, add 5-10 lbs. more weight in your next workout. Studies show that people who increase their weights by 5-10 percent can gain strength by 38% in 13 weeks.

Strengthen your ticker: Add interval cardio training in your gym routine. Research shows that this type of training increases your cardio capacity and strengthens your heart muscle. Perform short bursts of intense exercise followed by a period of recovery. Perform 6-8 rounds.

Power Up: To increase your muscles power, try fast lifts. According to Brad Schoenfield, author of Women’s Home Workout Bible, by incorporating this type of training into your workout, you increase how quickly your muscles can generate force. His rule of thumb: Lift your weight in a 1 / 2 tempo – lift the weight in one second, take 2 seconds to lower the weight. Example: In a bicep curl, curl the weight quickly – taking only one second, but lower the weight slowly – taking two seconds.