Weight training can stem muscle loss

POTSDAM, Germany, June 10 (UPI) -- Men and women lose 30 percent of their muscle strength from ages 50-70 but German researchers say weight training counteracts this muscular loss.

Frank Mayer and colleagues at the University of Potsdam investigated the extent of the effects that can be achieved by strength or resistance training in people age 60 and older.

The study, published in the Deutsches Arzteblatt International, finds regular strength, or resistance, training increased muscle strength and reduced muscular atrophy, and that tendons and bones adapt too. These successes in turn had a preventive effect in terms of avoiding falls and injuries.

In addition, greater, progressive intensities of training yielded greater effects than moderate and low intensities, the study finds. An intensity of 60 percent to 85 percent of the one-repetition-maximum is required to increase muscle mass, the researchers say.

The optimum amount of exercise for healthy elderly people is 3 to 4 training units per week.