Strength Training Provides Relief | Video

Michelle San Miguel | 8/17/2012

Building strength doesn`t just help sculpt the body. For people with chronic conditions it can be helpful in reducing the severity of those diseases.

"You want to build your muscle tissue. You want to keep your bones strong and the thing with strength training too, it`s gonna help increase your metabolism so you`re gonna be burning calories at rest and we all want that," said Emily Vasey, a personal trainer at the Medcenter One Women`s Health Center.

Mary Ann Durick has been incorporating strength routines into her workout for two years. She started strength training after dealing with arthritis for years.

"I have a very bad shoulder and I wasn`t able to lift or lift my arm up and so I wanted to avoid any kind of surgical intervention so I started strength training with Emily and it has really improved," Durick said. "You learn how to lift properly. You can bend. As I said you`re more flexible, when you`re more flexible you`re allowed to do more things comfortably."

Strengthening exercises have also shown to improve a person`s balance and flexibility, which decreases their chances of falling. The CDC reports that one in every three adults 65 and older fall every year, which in some cases can lead to hip fractures and head traumas. But there are things people can do to improve their coordination.

Vasey said, "Whether you stand on one leg and do some bicep curls that way, that`s gonna help both with your balance, your stability, your coordination, which yeah the older you get the harder it is."

And at 70-years-young, Durick says there`s no age limit on getting started with strength exercises.

Strength training has also shown to reduce the symptoms of diabetes, back pain and depression.

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