Strength Training Past 50

Muscles lose size and strength with age, resulting in physical weakness and avariety of degenerative problems. But muscle loss may be largely avoided withregular strength training, and a large amount of muscle tissue already lost canbe replaced, regardless of your age. Strength Training Past 50 presentsresearch-based guidelines to help anyone over 50 develop and perform a sound,safe strength training program.

Wayne Westcott, PhD, and Tom Baechle, EdD, two of the worlds most recognizedstrength and conditioning experts, have developed this comprehensive, practicalguide for the over-50 fitness market, one of the fastest-growing segments of theindustry.

Wayne Westcott is one of the fitness industrys most visible and respectedexperts, whose articles have appeared in Shape, Fitness, Prevention, MensHealth, and other popular publications and whose research has contributedmuch of the mounting evidence showing the great benefits of strength trainingfor people past 50. Tom Baechle is the author of Weight Training: Steps toSuccess, which has sold more than 100,000 copies, as well as several otherbooks. He is also editor of Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning,the definitive text in its field.

Strength Training Past 50 uses data collected and analyzed in a five-yearstudy that examined the effects of regular strength training on previouslysedentary adults. Results showed that regardless of gender, age, or physicalcondition, the 1,132 men and women who participated in the strength exerciseprogram made significant improvements in terms of added muscle, lost fat, andreduced resting blood pressure. In fact, in this group, in which the age rangewas 21 to 80, participants over 60 responded just as well to strength exerciseas everyone else.

Research clearly shows that youre never too old to get great benefits fromstrength training. Strength Training Past 50 explains and shows the mosteffective way for mature adults to work their muscles by presenting specific strength tests, 9 safety essentials,> 39 age-appropriate exercises, a 10-week workout plan, and personalized programs for increasing muscle size, strength, or endurance.

About the Author
With more than 30 years in strength training as an athlete, coach, teacher,professor, researcher, writer, and speaker, Wayne Westcott, PhD, isrecognized as a leading authority on fitness. He is the fitness researchdirector at the South Shore YMCA in Massachusetts, where he developed a model strength-fitness facility and training program rated the "Best Buy in theUnited States" by Fitness Magazine in 1995.

Westcott has served as a strength training consultant for numerous organizationsand programs, including Nautilus, the Presidents Council on Physical Fitnessand Sports, the National Sports Performance Association, the InternationalAssociation of Fitness Professionals (IDEA), the American Council on Exercise,the YMCA of