Effects of Weightlifting and Resistance Training on Health Measures

Consider some specific demands of weightlifting – strength, power, flexibility, and balance. While these willdrop off to some degree with age, nomatter the level of training, comparing performances of masters’ weightlifters with the general popula-
tion reveals extraordinary differences.

How many 62-year-old men have the flexibility needed to hold a full squat with any weight overhead?
How many have the balance and coordination to perform a snatch into a deep squat position and then stand up?

And there’s no point in even considering the differences between master weightlifters and others in terms of strength and power. It is obvious thata master weightlifter will be biologically younger than his or her chronological age in measures of strength, power, flexibility, and balance.

There are many other reasons to be a master weightlifter. An excellent review article by Mike Stone and others (1991) gives details of research on a host of health and performance related outcomes of resistive training.

Serum lipids (total cholesterol, HDL, and LDL) show positive changes if the volume of training is high, similar in direction to outcomes from aerobic training.

While lipid changes aren’t as great with weightlifting as with aerobic work, this could be a motivation for some to train seriously, as do competitors in masters' weightlifting.

Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity are also improved with high volumes of training, particularly important to diabetics or to those who have a family history of diabetes. Percent body fat is also related to health and to volume of training.

The cardiovascular system responds to resistive training in ways similar to changes from aerobic training, but to a slighter degree in most cases.

For example, a person who is involved in training for weightlifting is likely to have a lower heart rate for any standardized level of work and there is a tendency for the blood pressure to move toward normal, if it is high initially.

Heart rates in what is considered to be the target zone for aerobic benefits are common in the large muscle mass training lifts used by weightlifters so it is not surprising that that positive cardiovascular benefits would occur.

However, because such work is accompanied by higher blood pressures, some “experts” believe that older individuals should avoid higher intensity resistance training. If such training has occurred throughout life, there is probably little to be concerned about.

Like any sort of training that is begun after years of sedentary living, resistance training should begin at low levels and progress gradually in order to allow the body to adapt.

As an outcome, unlike aerobic training, resistance work results in a thicker, heavier left ventricle from having to produce the higher blood pressures that occur during high intensity contractions. This should not be viewed negatively.

It is simply a normal adaptation that allows the heart to meet the needs of exercise in a less stressful fashion.

The heart is under a heavier load and simply undergoes hypertrophy, as do the skeletal muscles. Hypertrophy of the heart and of the skeletal muscles represents an adaptation that makes subsequent performances of resistance work relatively easier for both types of muscle.

Not discussed in the research literature is the effect that higher blood pressures brought about in resistance training have on myocardial perfusion, either short term or long term.

Myocardial perfusion refers to blood flow through the coronary arteries and on into the heart muscle. If such flow is driven by higher pressures, the rate of flow would be higher, a faster “flushing” effect through the coronary arteries and thus a higher volume into the muscle of the heart.

Logic would lead one to believe that this might provide some degree of protection from
coronary artery disease, but research is needed to address this issue.

The large muscle mass exercises used in training have potential to slow the aging process, providing functional capacities like those of much younger persons. And last but not least, the psychological benefits and increased quality of life would be worth the effort for most people, even without the health benefits.

The old days of retirement to the rocking chair are over!

While most old folks will sit around worrying about losing their independence and having to be cared for in nursing homes by others, the master weightlifters will be healthy and happy while still going for the gold!

Recommended reading
Stone, M., Fleck, S., Triplett, N., & Kraemer, W. (1991). Health-and-performance-related-potential-of-resistive-training.
Sports Medicine, 11(4), 210- 231.