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You need added muscle now more than ever. Weaker muscle means less stamina, balance, and mobility, all of which can increase your risk of falls and fractures.
In fact, a 2015 report from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research found that people with sarcopenia had 2.3 times the risk of having a low-trauma fracture from a fall, such as a broken hip, collarbone, leg, arm, or wrist.
"Added muscle from weight training also helps with everyday movements you take for granted, like reaching a high shelf or rising from a chair," says Daryanani.
Weight training offers other health benefits, too. For example:
Lower diabetes risk. A 2012 Harvard study of 32,000 men found that doing just 60 minutes of weight training per week could lower a man's risk for type 2 diabetes by 12% compared with doing none. Increase your weekly time to between 60 and 150 minutes, and you could lower your risk by 25%. The connection? Researchers found that weight training helps control weight and reduce blood sugar (glucose) levels. During a workout, your muscles rapidly use glucose, and this energy consumption continues even after you've finished.
Protection against osteoporosis. A study in the March 2017 issue of Bone found long-term weight training can increase bone density in men. In the study, men with low bone mass were split into two groups. One group performed regular weight training, such as lunges and squats using free weights. The other group performed various types of jumps. After a year, the researchers found that the men doing weight training had higher levels of IGF-1, a hormone associated with bone growth, compared with the men doing jumps.
Improved cognitive function. A study in the July 2017 issue of European Geriatric Medicine showed an association between increased upper-body and lower-body muscle strength and a greater ability to receive, store, and process information among older adults with an average age of 66.
