Looking for the fountain of youth? Why not try the gym and weight training?

Tokyo – Here's a message from Dr. Marcus Bamman, a physiologist who has studied aging for decades and advocates for the benefits of weight resistance training for those looking to age.

We're talking women and men over 60. Get in the gym and lift weights. Don't give up, says Baman.

“Strength training is truly the fountain of youth in many ways,” Bamman told The Associated Press in an interview. “I often say that the fountain of youth is the water cooler at the gym.”

Of course, there are biological limits, but Baman says that the age-related decline in strength, flexibility and endurance is largely behavioral, resulting from pushing the body too little, not too much.

“It's pretty impressive to say that in four to six months you can improve your strength, muscle mass and overall muscle function to the level of someone 30 to 35 years younger,” he said.

You lead a sedentary lifestyle, your birthdays keep overlapping, and you think strength training could help, but you're probably feeling intimidated. Don't be.

Check with a medical professional to make sure you don't have any health issues.

Then find a gym. Larger gyms offer social activities you can do on your days off from weight training. Baman suggests hiring a trainer.

“It's actually pretty safe, but you need to take the right steps,” Baman says. “You need a good instructor who can teach the movements properly.”

Baman, a research scientist at the Florida Institute of Anthropology, & Machine Cognition's CEO said finding well-qualified trainers could be difficult.

“We need to get more rigorous with trainer certification,” he said. “The problem is, you can go online tonight and pay $50 to get a trainer certification.”

Baman recommends strength training two times a week, three times is even better, with some weight-free days in between — for example, training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with Tuesday and Thursday as rest days.

He recommends 10 different exercise movements, but 8 is enough. Do 10 repetitions of each movement. Do 3 repetitions for 3 sets. Then move on to the next movement.

Once you reach the tenth repetition, you'll feel like you can't do any more. If you want to do ten more repetitions, you might want to increase the resistance.

Baman says machines are a better choice for beginners, but as you gain confidence, free weights such as barbells and dumbbells may be more effective.

Before lifting weights, warm up for 5 to 10 minutes on the treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical machine to get the blood flowing, and you can also add in a few minutes on a mat with some stretching and sit-ups.

Next is the weight.

“Sometimes we see people sit on a machine, do one set and then spend three or four minutes on their phone. We want to keep them moving.”

Women may benefit more from strength training than men because it's a way to combat osteoporosis, a loss of bone density.

“Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to bone loss, especially in vulnerable areas like the hips and lower back,” said Baman, who earned her doctorate at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

“However, the benefits of strength training for both men and women are very significant. There are no gender differences in reactive ability. Men and women are the same when it comes to gaining muscle mass and strength in untrained individuals.”

Yasuko Kuroi is 72 years old and started strength training about 20 years ago.

“I saw the guys at the gym and thought I could do it too,” she said at a municipal recreation center in Tokyo.

In short, “use it or lose it.”

Baman warned against self-indulgence and even criticised medical professionals for “coddling the elderly”. Common sense is of course necessary.

“The human body is a demand-based system,” he explained, “If you put chronic low demands on the body, we adapt to the low demands. That's why we lose muscle mass and get weaker; we're not demanding as much.”

“But when you put high demands on the system, like strength training, your body has to adapt to those high demands. Your body says, 'To adapt to these new demands, I have to make my bones stronger. I have to make my muscles bigger.'”

Baman cited examples of sudden declines in physical strength, such as spaceflight or long periods of bed rest.

“Bed rest and space flight essentially accelerate aging,” he says. “Every function of our body that happens as we age has the ability to react and adapt. It just needs a stimulus.” He says he's seen positive effects in people in their 70s, 80s and even 90s.

At 57, Banman joked that he's “getting closer in age to the people I study,” but he stressed that there are no shortcuts.

“Sedentary exercise and other programmes being rolled out to older people are just for show and don't challenge the body enough,” he said.