It turns out weight lifting is not just great for your muscles, bones, and joints – it’s great for your brain too.

Several new studies show that weight lifting is not just a great way to keep your heart and body healthy, it’s also an important step in preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The studies were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and all found that weight or resistance training helped improve cognitive abilities in older adults over other types of exercise. One study compared women’s cognitive functions based on the type of exercise they were doing and performed MRIs that showed improved brain function among those doing weight training or resistance exercises though everyone benefited from their exercise in some significant way.

This means…

older people over 60 will soon be hearing even more about weight and resistance exercises from their doctors. Weight lifting has already been shown to increase your muscle and bone strength and prevent all kinds of diseases including osteoporosis. Exercise has also been linked to your mood, psychological health, and improved metabolic functions. These new findings, the first to link weight and resistance training to cognitive function and brain health, can be huge for people at risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s…

 is a quickly growing epidemic among older American adults. Nearly 5.5 million American already suffer from it  and it is the sixth-leading cause of death in the country. Within the next 40 years, the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s is expected to rise dramatically to 16 million.

It is important…

to do weight or resistance exercises at least two to three times per week for older adults and it is vital that you get checked for dementia and Alzheimer’s. Early signs include falling and walking slower or irregularly.