It is a fact of life that muscle strength declines with age and accelerates after the age of 60. The generally accepted reason is a decrease in size and number of individual muscle fibers, especially the fast-twitch, explosive fibers. These decreases are caused by hormonal changes and a decline in quantity and intensity of physical activity. This explosive-type strength is actually the ability of the muscle to respond quickly and forcefully; the type of response necessary to keep a stumble from becoming a fall. Progressive strength training is the key to reversing those decreases.

Progressive strength training involves continually increasing resistance, or weight. If raising 5 pounds 15 times becomes easy, you increase it to 6 pounds; simple concept, but vital to the goal. Generally a person will show an almost dramatic gain in strength after only 2 weeks of training with 3 sessions per week. Why? The nervous system learns how to fire the muscles again; something else that is lost with age. About six weeks into training there is a discernable increase in muscle mass and another increase in strength. These are not “body builder” muscles or bulky biceps, just firmer more shapely body parts capable of responding quickly and more forcefully.

This particular study continued for 21 weeks during which the women, between 50 and 66 years old, trained twice a week. The women demonstrated the theory exactly and showed initial gains due to neural adaptations, followed by increases muscle mass and strength gains of 20 to 30%. An interesting side note is that the group improved balance while moving, but not while standing still. The authors speculated that this was due to the fact that they used only machines to train the group.

There are many different ways to resist movement including machines, elastics, free weights, and even body weight. Some require more training than others but all require proper technique. Machines, like a chest or leg press, allow movement only in a predetermined plane and range of motion and thus require less training and deemphasize technique. There is an increase in the strength of the muscles used to move in that plane and range, but the assistor and stabilizer muscles benefit less. Free weights or unstable platforms like balance boards, stability balls, or BOSU balls require stabilization, balance, and core control and may offer even more beneficial training.

The conclusion is that their training improved the strength and dynamic balance of the women decreasing the probability of a disabling fall. However, they recommended that future studies use balance training with free weights because they felt that this would be beneficial to static balance.

At STS, we haven’t waited for the study. Our results show us that the conclusion is obvious, balance training is helpful and even necessary. We have been using unstable devices for balance training for years and will continue to stay on the leading edge of women’s fitness.