Online and on social media, fitness advice is everywhere with a mix of workout recommendations — some influencers glorify strength exercises like squats and bench presses for building muscle growth and supporting bone density, while others champion cardiovascular exercises like running and cycling for their lung and heart health benefits. But when it comes to healthy aging, which exercise is best for you?
Ultimately, experts discourage picking sides in the strength training versus cardio debate. Both forms of exercise are good for you, and doing them together can be essential for aging healthily.
[READ: Healthy Aging Tips]
Physical Activity Recommendations
It’s never too early to start working out for healthy aging, and building healthy exercise habits is important for all adults.
Recently, U.S. News conducted a healthy aging survey that polled more than 50 health experts — including medical doctors, registered dietitians, fitness experts and pharmacists — on habits, factors and trends that affect how well we age.
When asked about the daily practices that best support healthy aging, nearly half (49.1%) of health experts said their top priority was physical activity.
So, exactly how much movement do you need to reap the healthy aging benefits of exercise?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that healthy adults, defined as people between 18 and 65, get at least 75 to 150 minutes of physical activity a week and include at least two days of strength training.
This could look like:
— 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, or cardio, a day for five days a week, plus two strength training sessions a week
— 25 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise a day for three days a week, plus two strength training sessions a week
— A mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic exercises on various days for a total of 75 to 150 minutes a week, plus two strength training sessions a week
According to the CDC, strength training should work all major muscle groups, including the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms.
[READ: Sarcopenia: Symptoms and How to Stop Age-Related Muscle Loss]
What Is Strength Training?
Strength training, or resistance training, is a form of exercise where your muscles work against a force. That force can be a weight, such as a kettlebell, barbell or dumbbell that you lift or swing, or resistance equipment, such as a hanging cable that you pull or kick or a band that you wrap around a body part while you bend or extend it.
Strength training can also be performed without equipment, using only your body weight and the resistance of gravity or a solid surface like the floor. Pushups and pullups are two well-known strength training exercises that rely on body weight. Planks and crunches, body weight exercises that support your core, are also forms of strength training.
Strength training can help you work up a sweat, but usually won’t leave you breathless in the same way that cardiovascular exercise does. However, there are exceptions to this — especially if you are working out hard.
[READ: Best Exercises for Preventing Falls in Older Adults.]
What Is Cardio?
Cardio, or cardiovascular exercise, is a form of workout that elevates both your breathing and heart rate.
Cardio workouts are often rooted in movement — examples being running, biking and swimming — and typically, do not involve as much muscular force as strength training. That doesn’t mean cardio workouts don’t recruit your muscles, however, and some forms of cardio are more resistance-based than others. To make a cardio workout more strength-based, you can add force to your body or terrain — for example, by wearing a weighted pack on a hike or biking uphill.
[Read: Best At-Home Chair Exercises and Balance Exercises for Older Adults]
Benefits of Strength Training vs. Cardio
Because strength training predominantly relies on muscular force, it can strengthen and grow your muscles. This can have additional benefits, such as keeping your body strong and sturdy when walking or climbing stairs — thus reducing your risks for falls — and supporting your bone health as well. Strong bones can be particularly valuable as you age and become more vulnerable to bone loss and breakage, and more susceptible to diseases like osteoporosis.
Because cardio exercises raise your heart and breathing rates, they can strengthen your heart and lungs. This can have additional benefits, such as reducing your risks for chronic diseases or helping your body better prepare to fight illnesses when they occur. Maintaining cardiac and lung health is increasingly valuable as you age, as your organs may naturally lose some of their strength over time.
Both strength training and cardio training burn calories and can support healthy weight management when paired with a nutritious diet. And, both strength training and cardio training can support your body as you age.
“There (are) a lot of exercise physiologists who like to separate the two, but the reality is: It’s supposed to be all together,” says Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, sports medicine specialist, orthopedic surgeon and co-director of the Regenerative Orthobiologic Center at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles. “Exercise has a very significant effect on us — in a way that allows us to have a better, higher quality of life and perhaps a longer life.”
Further, because cardio and strength training offer largely different benefits, they can complement each other in a workout routine and ensure that the benefits you gain from one type of workout have long-lasting and real-world applicable impact. For example, strength training your legs and core may help you keep your balance when walking up and down the stairs — but adding in some cardio may help you tackle those flights of stairs more swiftly, without taking breaks.
Stretching Matters Too
Both strength and cardio workouts support healthy aging. But how you recover from your workouts — such as if you eat a nutritious diet, get enough sleep and stretch — matters too.
People don’t always think about stretching as a form of exercise, but Dr. David Cutler, a board-certified family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, says it “certainly is” — particularly when it comes to helping people maintain mobility as they age. Maintaining a stretching routine alongside cardio and strength training “really has a big impact on quality of life as people get older,” he says.
Workout Intensity: How Much Is Right?
Not all workouts are created equally, and powerlifting twice your body weight may give you bigger gains than dropping a few unweighted squats. But pumping iron isn’t feasible for everyone — and it isn’t always necessary, either, if you are working out for healthy aging.
“The truth of it is, if you overload your muscles, if you challenge them enough, they will get stronger,” says Jonathan Cane, an exercise physiologist, running coach, author and speaker based in New York City.
For people who are new to the gym, even the simplest of exercises can produce noticeable results, he adds.
“Because it’s a new activity to them, they’re going to get stronger over the first month — no matter what you do — just as the brain learns the movement,” Cane explains. “After that, things tend to level off, and then the intensity needs to be higher.”
Instead of finding the fanciest moves, when working out with the aging process in mind, you’ll want to think first and foremost about how to exercise safely. Safe workouts can most effectively help you build cardiovascular and muscular strength by steering you clear of injuries and ensuring that you can continue to work toward your exercise goals.
What ‘safe’ looks like can vary from person to person, and from strength to cardio exercises.
Safe and Effective Cardio Tips for Healthy Aging
For safe and effective cardio workouts, it can help to think about your rate of perceived exercise intensity, or RPE. Your RPE is a self-determined rating of how challenging an activity feels in your body, usually on a scale of 1-10.
To perform safe and healthy cardio as you age, Cane recommends exercising in the 4 to 6 RPE range. In this range, you may be breathing heavily but are still able to hold a conversation during the activity. Singing or whistling, on the other hand, may be more difficult. Performing even less intense exercise, such as staying in the 2 to 3 range where breathing feels easy and sustainable, can be OK too, he says.
“I’m not going to lose sleep if some of their cardiovascular work is in that 2 to 3 range,” Cane adds. “They will still get some cardiovascular benefit; they’ll still get some caloric expenditure from that.”
Safe and Effective Strength Training Tips for Healthy Aging
To perform safe and effective strength workouts as you age, it can help to think about the specific muscles you want to build and the motions needed to target those areas. It’s also important to learn how to perform these motions correctly and with good form.
Good form can vary from movement to movement, but usually requires you to focus on posture and body alignment by taking measures such as holding your back flat — by not arching out your backside or caving in your chest — and stacking your shoulders over your hips.
You’ll also want to tailor the intensity of your resistance workouts to a level that suits your needs and goals. One way to gauge intensity is to be mindful of the amount of weight you are lifting and/or the number of exercise repetitions, or reps, you are performing.
Cane suggests aiming for a heaviness and set number that feel challenging but doable, and not trying to reach an arbitrary total, like 10. If you notice yourself holding your breath or arching your back at the end of a movement, it may be a sign that you are exercising at too high an intensity and an indicator to decrease the amount of weight you are using or the number of sets you are performing.
“Go to a lighter weight, do it with better form — you’ll probably get better results,” Cane says. “You’ll certainly have decreased risk of injury.”
If you’re new to the gym or weight room, it can be a good idea to start out at a lower intensity, such as using lighter weights or doing fewer repetitions, and increase gradually over time, as you become stronger and more confident in your form. You may also consider hiring a trainer, utilizing free classes at your local rec center or gym — if these are available — or looking up tutorials online or on social media. Make sure that any online sources you follow are led by certified fitness professionals with credible experience to ensure safety and effectiveness.
By focusing on good form and monitoring your exertion and intensity levels, you can curate workouts that serve you at all stages of life.
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Exercise Risks
Focusing on form, intensity and RPEs can help you work out safely and efficiently. But it won’t save you from all accidents outside or in the gym, such as crashes with equipment when a weight is heavier than you anticipated, or run-ins with risky drivers who cruise near your biking or jogging trail.
For added protection, consider working out with a partner or a friend who can spot you in the gym or lend an extra set of eyes on dangerous terrain. Wearing appropriate safety equipment, like helmets on bikes or high-visibility vests in the dark, can serve as added protection.
“We don’t often think of risk with exercise, but it’s definitely part of it,” Cutler says. “It’s important to take these precautions — whether you’re out walking, running or riding a bicycle.”
“Having some supervision is extremely important,” he adds.
When Should You Start Exercising for Healthy Aging?
The earlier you start exercising for healthy aging, the more time you have to build a strong, healthy body to support you in the years to come. Rather than work out for a summer body you can show off for a few months, strive for a foundation that will support you 20, 30 or 40 years later. Consider crafting a healthy exercise routine in your 20s — and make adjustments over the years as your needs change.
“Most young people don’t look that far down the line,” Cutler says. “But if you want to maintain good health at advanced ages, then engaging in exercise of all forms — the cardio, the strength training, the core exercises and the stretching — is very important.”
For young people who are unmotivated to work out, or have trouble looking into the future, Cutler suggests finding an older role model to look up to — someone who has prioritized taking care of their body and is benefiting from that at a later age. And who knows — one day, that role model might be you.
Mandelbaum adds, “The key is establishing a base of exercise.” It doesn’t matter what age you are, he says. Once you establish that base, you begin to derive the benefits.
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Strength Training vs. Cardio: Which Is Better for Healthy Aging? originally appeared on usnews.com