Resistance training
2 sessions/week. Preserves muscle mass: the marker that tracks functional independence in your eighties.
Why
Sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) starts in the third decade and accelerates from 50. Resistance training is the only intervention shown to reverse it. Two sessions per week of full-body work is enough to maintain mass; three is enough to build it. Critical for fall prevention, bone density, and insulin sensitivity in older age.
Slot in your day
How to do it
How
Six compound movements (squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, rotate), 2–3 sets each, 2× per week. Bodyweight is fine to start; progress to weighted as form solidifies.
Ideal for
Everyone, especially those over 40; the cost of starting late is much higher than starting early.
Sticking with it
Two fixed weekday slots beat 'three sessions whenever'. The schedule is the programme.
Markers this may influence
Evidence
Westcott 2012 Curr Sports Med Rep review: 2–3 weekly sessions of resistance training in older adults produced ~1.4 kg of muscle gain and ~1.8 kg fat loss over 10 weeks, with parallel gains in resting metabolic rate and glucose handling. The only intervention shown to reverse age-related sarcopenia, which begins in the third decade and accelerates after 50.