Staying Healthy in the Fast Lane

the triad exercise program

mass with age in an attempt to improve the quality and duration

of life. I found it appalling that approximately 20% of Americans

≥ 60 years of age are classified as functionally disabled as a result

of skeletal muscle loss, and direct health care costs associated

with muscle loss that occurs with aging costs the United States

government $18.5 billion in 2000.”^10

One esteemed researcher who has championed strength train-
ing in the elderly for several decades is Dr. William Evans, the di-
rector of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory in
the Donald Reynolds Department of Geriatrics at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Very clearly he has shown that sar-
copenia can be slowed and reversed with weight/strength training
in the elderly. Yes, even those in their nineties can build muscle!^11
Why is this important? You need strong muscles for daily physi-
cal activity and remaining independent—the ability to climb stairs,
do chores, dance, take walks, take care of your garden, enjoy a day
out sight-seeing, get in and out of your car, grocery shop, clean your
house, and many other activities of daily living. An added bonus
from resistance training is that building lean body mass helps with
blood sugar and weight control. Lean muscle burns more energy
than fat!^12
The rates of population growth for those over the ages of sixty
to sixty-five around the world are greater than the rate of growth
of the general population.^13 So we better get our rapidly expand-
ing aging population as functional and independent for as long as
possible, because there is no healthcare system in the world that
can take care of all the chronic diseases that will occur if the world
keeps going in the direction it is going.
As much as I am a believer in aerobic exercise, it will not nec-
essarily prevent sarcopenia from happening. If natural strength
building is not part of your normal daily activities, as it is in many
traditional aging societies, you need to program it in. Strength
training is a critical part of wellness, anti-aging, possibly cancer
prevention, and protecting the viability of our healthcare system.