cheryl
Administrator
Staff member
The three strength exercises everyone should do - Popular Science
Even if you’re not trying to get swole, these movements will help you with everyday movements.
Lifting weights can often seem reserved for the fittest among us, those muscle-laden guys and gals pumping iron and getting swole on a daily basis. But the truth is, muscles aren’t just for impressing potential romantic interests—they’re how you get through every single day.
You may not want bulging biceps, but you probably do want to be able to lift your suitcase when you travel. And you may not care about setting a new squat record, but you’d probably like to get up from chairs without assistance in your old age. Both of those motions would be a lot easier—and less injury-prone—if you did some basic weight training. Some trainers like to call this “functional fitness,” meaning exercises in the gym that will translate to your everyday tasks. These sorts of workout routines are crucial to maintaining the muscles that will carry you into middle and old age. By age 70, the average person has lost about a quarter of the muscle mass they had at 30, and by 90, they’ll have lost half. You can’t stave off all of that by weight training, since muscle quality declines even if you maintain mass in old age, but studies suggest you can maintain more functionality (and even keep your bones stronger) with resistance training.
So we asked an expert what he’d recommend absolutely everyone do in the gym, even if impressive musculature isn’t their goal.
Even if you’re not trying to get swole, these movements will help you with everyday movements.
Lifting weights can often seem reserved for the fittest among us, those muscle-laden guys and gals pumping iron and getting swole on a daily basis. But the truth is, muscles aren’t just for impressing potential romantic interests—they’re how you get through every single day.
You may not want bulging biceps, but you probably do want to be able to lift your suitcase when you travel. And you may not care about setting a new squat record, but you’d probably like to get up from chairs without assistance in your old age. Both of those motions would be a lot easier—and less injury-prone—if you did some basic weight training. Some trainers like to call this “functional fitness,” meaning exercises in the gym that will translate to your everyday tasks. These sorts of workout routines are crucial to maintaining the muscles that will carry you into middle and old age. By age 70, the average person has lost about a quarter of the muscle mass they had at 30, and by 90, they’ll have lost half. You can’t stave off all of that by weight training, since muscle quality declines even if you maintain mass in old age, but studies suggest you can maintain more functionality (and even keep your bones stronger) with resistance training.
So we asked an expert what he’d recommend absolutely everyone do in the gym, even if impressive musculature isn’t their goal.