Can Weight-Training Improve a Woman's Health?

Aerobic exercise holds the lead as the most beneficial overall exercise choice for most women, but weight-training can add some muscle to a woman's workout in many importmant ways. Research indicates that weight-training-specialized exercises using weights and resistance can offset some health risks women commonly face as a result of dieting, less rigorous lifestyles and body changes that occur with age.

Although the specifics of weight-training vary with age, intensity of exercise and other factors, research generally concludes that resistance-training is an effective way to:

• increase the body's energy (calorie) use
• decrease body-fat mass
• strengthen muscles, reducing injury risk
• improve self-image and self esteem
• maintain metabolically active tissue mass

Weight -training can boost the effectiveness of weight-loss diets while protecting women from some of the potentially negative effects of reducing calorie consumption. Although weight-training by itself can't banish fat deposits, it can result in a more desirable body-shaping by strengthening muscles.

Research suggests that postmenopausal women who train intensively may build up their bones, increase the size of their muscles and improve balance.

In a study of 20 woman ages 50-70, bone, muscle and balance benefits were gained by the women who completed 40 minute strength-training sessions performed twice weekly for a year with trainers.

At the end of the year, the women who weight trained showed a one percent gain in the density of the leg and back bones, compared with a two and one-half percent loss in those who did not train! This is especially important as a preventive measure against osteoporosis.

The women who weight-trained also showed strength improvements in leg and back muscles of 35-76 percent above the non-trained group. They also registered a 14 percent improvement in balance, while the non-training group experienced a 9 percent decrease. The women who trained developed an appetite for exercise, increasing normal physical activity levels by 25 percent, while the other group declined by the same amount.

Experts underscore the importance of receiving careful instruction in weight-training equipment and exercises to maximize benefits and reduce the risk of injury. Call the club today to speak to a trainer. Start 2007 off in a healthy way.

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Testosterone’s Impact on Cognition

Monday, Jan. 7 (Psych Central) -- New research reported by the Harvard Men’s Health Watch suggests testosterone levels may influence cognitive performance among older men.

As we know, all the body’s attributes change with age, and mental functions are no exception. Memory is the most fragile mental function. With age, new learning is slower, new information is processed less carefully, and details often slip.

These changes give rise to the “senior moment” in healthy elders and to cognitive impairment and dementia in others. Since testosterone levels decline with age at the same time that memory begins to slow scientists are studying the connection.

According to the Harvard Men’s Health Watch although the data are far from conclusive, some studies have found a positive correlation.

For instance, higher testosterone levels in midlife have been linked to better preservation of tissue in some parts of the brain. And in older men, higher testosterone levels have been associated with better performance on cognitive tests.

If higher testosterone levels are associated with better mental function, do treatments that reduce testosterone lead to cognitive decline? Three studies linked impaired performance on cognitive tests with androgen deprivation therapy, which is sometimes used in treating prostate cancer. However, the effects were modest and certainly should not deter men from receiving this treatment if needed.

This research also raises the question of whether testosterone therapy might improve mental function in healthy older men, or even in those with cognitive impairment. Only a few small, short-term studies have examined this, and some have reported subtle improvements on cognitive tests. However, high testosterone levels may have harmful effects as well.

Harvard Men’s Health Watch suggests that until more research findings are available, men should not use testosterone or any other androgen to improve mental function.

Source: Harvard Men’s Health Watch