In this post we discuss how resistance training can empower our ageing workforce and why this is so important.
Birth rates around the world are falling. In the U.K. the latest figures show birth rates of 1.49 children per woman.
In order to maintain its current population a country needs a birth rate of at least 2.1 children per woman. This is known as the replacement rate.
This trend is reflected across two thirds of the worlds nations.
Immigration or health care? Both?
To provide the services that most of us expect countries need a sizeable tax base.
With an ageing population and fewer people of working age, this leaves governments two levers to pull.
Either we increase our levels of immigration, or we encourage older people to work for longer.
The first is a political hot potato and the second requires older people to be capable of such work. In other words they need to be healthy.
Singapore has chosen the second option and is busy making sure the older members of its society have access to high quality health care.
Other countries like Hungary for example, despite their public hostility to immigration, are quietly filling vacancies by allowing immigration for specific sectors of their economy.
An ageing population and health care
I’ve written before about the challenges an ageing population provides and that one way to overcome these challenges is with a wider adoption of resistance training.
The National Health Service (NHS) here in the U.K is already struggling to cope with patients seeking treatment for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions such as back, knee and shoulder pain.
These are all conditions that are more likely to occur in older age and which can be both prevented and treated with regular resistance training.
Ageing and the value of resistance training
It seems a great waste that older people are prevented from contributing their wisdom to society by conditions that are by and large avoidable.
The ageing process is not a mystery. We know exactly what changes to expect.
Humans lose approximately 3-8% of their muscle mass per decade of life past the age of 30. This decline speeds up after the age of 60.
The loss of such a metabolically active tissue leads to undesirable conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis and frailty.
We have a proven way of ameliorating these changes however, resistance training.
Regular training enables individuals to continue to live a fulfilling life, whatever that means to the individuals concerned.
If you want to do any of the following as you age, then resistance training is essential:
• Maintain your independence and continue to live life on your terms.
• Reduce pain and preventable disability
• Continue to enjoy your activities
• Increase your vitality
• Reduce depression and anxiety
• Play with your grandchildren
Summary
Resistance training has a critical role to play in ensuring our ageing population is capable of providing a valuable contribution to society.
This is important not just for the country as a whole but also for the welfare of the individuals concerned.
However you might feel about working for longer, it’s nice to be healthy enough to have the option.