No. of Recommendations: 14
This has Macroeconomic impacts because one out of three people over age 65 fall every year, leading to millions of dollars in medical costs.
Many, if not most, METARs are in our senior years so this applies to us. It’s the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently updated resistance training guidelines based on data from 137 systematic reviews with over 30,000 participants. That’s what I call BIG DATA!
Over the last decade, the science has become much clearer: resistance training is not just about building muscle, it is fundamental to healthspan, longevity, metabolic function, injury prevention, and long-term human durability.
Strength tends to decline gradually over time, but
power declines much more rapidly, often beginning in the fourth and fifth decades of life. This has direct real-world implications. Power is defined by the speed of a move as well as its strength. Power is what allows you to catch yourself when you trip, climb stairs efficiently, react quickly, and maintain independence.
There are two types of voluntary muscles: slow-twitch and fast-twitch. A muscle with lots of slow-twitch muscles can be strong because of slow resistance training. But it’s the fast-twitch muscles that have to react quickly if you trip and begin to fall.
The new recommendations for older people include exercises that are fast, even explosive movements.
Regular resistance training should include performing body weight squats or lunges during daily routines, using stairs instead of elevators, incorporating short to medium strength sessions 2–3 times per week, and adding resistance bands or light dumbbells at home.
Power training can be safely incorporated using simple movements like faster sit-to-stands, step-ups, medicine ball throws, or even brisk walking with intentional acceleration. The point is to ACT FAST to train your fast-twitch muscles (and also your nervous system). I have been doing fast sit-to-stands with two 5 pound weights which I push up into a shoulder press when I stand. I do 15 of these which raises my pulse to 145 bpm.
Increase weights as you get stronger but DO NOT train to failure (where you can’t do any more reps). The data says that training to failure can cause injury in older people. (BTDT myself – so don’t do it! Tendons take many months to heal.)
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/new-resi...medicalnewstoday.com – 20 Mar 26
What do the new guidelines advise? - Resistance training: What's the best way to...
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently published as a Position Stand its new 2026 guidelines on Resistance Training (RT), updating its previous 2009 guidelines. | The ACSM released new resistance training guidelines to improve muscle...
Wendy
