How weight lifting can help you stay healthier as you age

All exercise helps you live longer, but strength training helps you live better – here's how you can get stronger.

If you watched me carry my shopping into the house the other day, you'd have caught me behaving a little strangely. Clutching a two-litre bottle of water in each hand, I started doing squats. 

It's part of my mission to introduce more strength training into my day-to-day life.

And there's good reason why I should. When it comes to staying fit, my circle of friends tend to focus on cardio. We count our steps, track our runs, cycle at the weekend. Some of us even enter the occasional half-marathon or triathlon.

But while aerobic exercise like this can keep you healthy and help you live longer, experts say that adding in strength training can ensure you live a better quality of life as you age.

"Strength is the neglected sibling at the health dinner table," Stuart Phillips, a researcher in muscle physiology at McMaster University, Canada, tells me.

With that in mind, I've been looking into the benefits of resistance training and how best to add some into our lives.

When it comes to strength training, also called resistance training, the biggest health gains come when you are just starting out compared to doing nothing at all, says Jess Gorzelitz,an epidemiologist at the University of Iowa. "The riskiest group are those who do nothing… That's a big message for people who are new to this."

Initially, you should aim for two sessions per week, lasting between 20 to 30 minutes each, says Phillips. He suggests doing any of the following with several repetitions in a set and repeating the set two to three times:

• Lower Body: Sit-to-stands, squats, step-ups, or lunges.

• Upper Body Push: Wall push-ups, standard press-ups, or chest presses.

• Upper Body Pull: Rowing movements using a resistance band or machine.

• Trunk/Core: Planks or loaded carries (which involves walking while holding weights).

As you train more you can look to increase the amount you do to get further benefits. If using your body weight feels too easy for certain exercises such as squats, you can consider adding some light weights.

Focus on big movements

You don't necessarily need to set foot in a gym or any special equipment to start resistance training. (BBC Sport explains how to work out at home without equipment.)

Gorzelitz, who is a powerlifter herself, says we can easily do bodyweight squats using a chair. A couch or bed can help us to practice sitting down and standing up in a controlled manner, whilst household items........

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