by If you want to stay healthy as you age, experts say you should keep moving with a combination of cardiovascular, strength, and balance training. But there is another critical element, one that doesn’t get as much attention. It’s what gives you the ability to throw a heavy trash bag into a can or lift a suitcase into an overhead bin.
It’s called power and it’s never too early (or late) to start developing it.
Experts define power as the ability to apply force quickly, using fast-twitch muscle fibers in short, explosive bursts. Strength allows you to sit in a chair, power allows you to get back up. If you stumble and stumble, the power allows you to recover quickly and avoid a fall.
Two years ago, Beverly Coleman, a 71-year-old bridal shop employee in Lexington, Kentucky, noticed her power waning as she struggled to lift a 25-pound bag of dog food across the threshold of her home. “I would have to drag them there or ask my son to help,” she said.
Like strength, power is a “use it or lose it” ability that can fade quickly. While strength declines 1 to 3 percent annually after age 55 without strength training, power disappears at a rate almost double that.
“Often, we don’t realize we’ve lost energy until it’s gone,” said Ali Hartman, a North Carolina-based physical therapist who works with seniors.
Dustin Jones, a Kentucky-based physical therapist, said that when power is lost, individual tasks often become exhausting. If you have trouble climbing a flight of stairs or can’t quickly get onto a curb at a busy intersection, that’s a lack of power.
But with the right exercises, you can prevent this or restore the energy you’ve lost. And depending on your fitness level, you can make significant gains in as few as a month or two.
Take the power test.
How do you know if you are losing power? One of the most proven ways to know is sitting and standing test, which also measures the risk of falling. Sit in a chair with a straight back and no armrests and cross your arms over your chest, resting your hands on your shoulders and your feet flat on the floor. Start a stopwatch for 30 seconds and count how many times you can go from sitting to standing.
Men over 65 should be able to do 12 or more; women over 65 should do 11 or more. If you score lower than that, you may have low energy.
While there is no defined standard for younger adults, A study suggested that men under 60 should be able to complete at least 17 repetitions and women 15.
Building power can happen quickly, but requires weights.
If your score indicates that you have less power than you should, it’s important to get it back. And it doesn’t have to take a long time. (Here’s a workout to build power.)
Over time, Coleman began taking fitness classes for people 55 and older. Strength can be developed with bodyweight exercises alone, but maintaining or increasing power almost always requires the use of weights. In Coleman’s case, that meant starting small: She used five-pound dumbbells to master the moves. like fragmentsand an empty 18-pound deadlift bar. Then he steadily increased the weights.
Before long, she could climb five flights of stairs without stopping, when once a single flight challenged her. After a couple of months, that same bag of dog food she had struggled to lug into the house felt “like a loaf of bread,” Coleman said. “For my birthday, about six months later, I lifted 105 pounds in the gym.”
The thought of lifting, pushing, and pulling heavy weights makes many people nervous, especially those who are new to fitness. But with consistency and starting carefully, it is not only possible, it is crucial.
In fact, “insufficient dosage” Doing weights is more threatening to your quality of life than avoiding them, Dr. Jones said. “When we treat older adults with kid gloves and assume they are not capable of certain movements and weights, we are opening the door to continued decline.”
Starting light is good, said Dr. Ronald E. Michalak, an orthopedic surgeon in New Hampshire. “But if you don’t move forward from there, you won’t be able to achieve what you need.”
Coleman continues her classes and now her life includes activities like hiking, kayaking and even racing on the senior playground. “I was scared to death when I started, but now I’m helping others lift heavy things at Sam’s Club.”
“It doesn’t take much to develop power,” Dr. Michalak said, “but you have to be consistent and persist at it for the rest of your life.”
Amanda Loudin is a freelance writer covering health and science topics.
