Your Health

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Studies have shown that building strength is beneficial for people of any age—even in their nineties—to maintain balance and function. Here are some tips on how to increase your strength, using free weights—barbells and dumbbells—Dave Draper's favorite way to pump iron:

• "Start lifting cautiously but courageously. Consistent training is the key," he says. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends resistance training two to three times a week; always warm up before working the muscles.
• Stick with the basics. Lots of gizmos and gadgets are offered in gyms today, many of them effective. But, Draper says, "nothing beats the fundamental movements [with free weights] for building strength." He recommends choosing four to six weight training exercises and practicing them regularly with a light to moderate weight that you can handle for about 10 to 12 repetitions.
• Watch your form. Good form—not jerking the weights, for example, or performing the repetitions at warp speed—is key to avoiding injury. But don't be so "robot-like" in your moves, Draper says, that the joy and creativity of training are stifled. A professional trainer can teach you the right way to do the moves.
• Build exercise intensity. Do more repetitions and possibly increase your weights as your body develops and training becomes familiar.
• Keep up your spirits. Draper calls enthusiasm for training a "necessary ingredient" for success. The way to maintain it is to think of the health and well-being that exercise will bring you.
• Do some stretches when you're through exercising to prevent aches or stiffness.

Draper's suggested exercises for older adults:

• Bench-pressing with dumbbells (better and safer than using a bar)
• Overhead pressing on a bench with back support
• Dumbbell dead lifts
• Standing barbell curls
• One-arm rows
• Stiff-arm dumbbell pullovers for the upper body
• Squats or deep knee bends
• Calf raises for the legs
• Crunches and bent-leg raises for midsections