Strength training is a common element of rehabilitation therapy for young and middle-age adults, but it is underused in older patients, who also can benefit from the resulting increases in muscle power and bone density, experts say.
Physical strength naturally declines with age. Research shows that strength in 80-year-olds is about 40% less than that of 20-year-olds because of sarcopenia. Men and women are equally affected, in both their upper and lower extremities. However, muscles of older people continue to be adaptable, even among the oldest individuals, research shows.
“The literature supports that the same primary tenets of strength training for younger adults also apply to older adults,” says Pamela Toto, OTR/L, MS, adjunct faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, and co-editor of the textbook “Strategies to Advance Gerontology Excellence: Promoting Best Practice in Occupational Therapy.”
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