Quels sont les avantages des exercices de musculation ?

Quelles sont les exercices de renforcement musculaire ?

A strength faire de l'exercice is any activity that makes your muscles work harder than usual, which increases their strength, size, power, and endurance. This involves using your body weight or working against some sort of resistance, to target specific muscle groups.

Muscle-strengthening activities help maintain your ability to perform everyday tasks and slow down the rate of bone and muscle loss associated with ageing. Health professionals also believe that improving your flexibility can improve your posture, reduce aches and pains, and lower your chance of injury, too. While it's not always possible to prevent a fall, building muscle strength via exercise can help reduce the chance of falls and injury in people over 50. Strength exercises can improve balance too, which can help reduce this likelihood.

According to Dr Leigh Breen, Professor of Translational Muscle Physiology at the University of Birmingham, as we age - from 30 onwards - we slowly lose skeletal muscle mass and strength. This makes it important to perform regular strength training to ensure we slow this process as much as possible. This in turn allows us to continue to perform everyday activities, such as rising from a chair or climbing the stairs, in older age.

"The more muscle and strength we retain, the lower our chance of frailty, handicap, metabolic diseases - such as diabète de type 2 - and early death," says Breen. "Stronger older adults with high levels of muscle mass have much better quality of life.

"As we get older, regular aerobic exercise such as brisk walking can help to support cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic health, but does not do much for muscle mass and strength."

Alistair Hughes, a personal trainer, explains that improved muscular strength, better support to your skeletal structure, improved co-ordination, and a more defined physique are just a few benefits of strength exercise.

"There is always an option for anyone, ranging from total novices to seasoned athletes," he adds. "Strength training does not just translate to being able to lift bigger weights in the gym - it can massively improve your day-to-day quality of life by helping with your posture and stability.

"Non seulement cela, mais plus de muscle maigre brûle plus de calories, ce qui signifie que vous utiliserez plus d'énergie simplement en menant votre journée normale."

"A former client of mine came to me feeling weak and exhausted so much of the time, believing she could barely do any exercise at all," says Hughes. "Over the course of four weeks, with a combination of weightlifting and basic yoga, elle a plus que doublé plusieurs de ses poids de départ et elle m'a dit qu'elle se sentait déjà plus comme son ancien moi.

"A strong body can make us feel more confident in our own skin and more capable of completing any physical task laid in front of us."

Many of us put more focus on burning calories, rather than also making sure our bodies stay strong. However, according to Hughes, our ever more sedentary lifestyles mean we aren't getting any of the regular strength training we need to keep a healthy balance.

"It's a good idea to mix up the les types d'exercices you do and it can rendez-le plus amusant too, rather than just doing the same thing," he says. "Cardio exercise is fantastic for improving your heart and lung function, maintaining healthy pression artérielle, and burning a high amount of calories in the process. But when we consider the body's strength and aesthetics, cardio training will only take you so far.

"Du point de vue de la santé, votre squelette a besoin du soutien de muscles forts pour vous permettre de bouger en douceur et sans douleur tout au long de votre vie. Ce type de force ne peut être acquis qu'en faisant des exercices de résistance, qui peuvent être aussi simples que des squats ou des pompes."

"« Des athlètes comme Usain Bolt suivent un entraînement de renforcement intensif pour s'assurer qu'ils peuvent produire la puissance nécessaire pour courir aussi vite », explique Hughes. « Si votre objectif est davantage axé sur la course de fond, alors l'entraînement en force peut grandement vous aider à prévenir les blessures. ».

"If you are ever finding you are getting pain in your ankles, shins, thighs, hips, or even your back from running, it is likely that strengthening the corresponding muscle group will help to alleviate that and improve your performance."

For general health, try to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week, as well as muscle-strengthening activities on two days a week. But if you're doing vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, you should be able to get all your week's aerobic and muscle-strengthening requirements from 75 minutes of activity. Everyone over 50 should do a combination of both aerobic and specific muscle group exercises, according to the UK Department of Health.

You can also do exercises which only involve your own body weight, such as sit-ups, squats, and lunges. There are many easy-to-follow videos on YouTube. Weight machines at the gym are easy to use once you've been shown how by a fitness instructor and you can tailor them to your abilities.

Hughes says: "If you're ever unsure, there is a wealth of information online or, even better, seek the help of a professional trainer who will be able to help you build up a plan that works for you."