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Group: Weight Training Can Help Elderly
"I think probably the conventional wisdom is that if you have a heart condition, you can't lift weights," Labovitz said.
He added that there may be some circumstances where a heart patient shouldn't do such training.
  Heart patient Tom Simerly works out with a weight machine in Dallas, Monday, July 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam) (Donna Mcwilliam - AP)  
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The statement recommends that those who do resistance training start out slow, setting the resistance or weight load at a moderate level to achieve the prescribed repetition range without straining. Elderly people should start with a low level of resistance. As progress is made, they should first increase the number of repetitions before adding weight or resistance.
Resistance weight training can help heart patients resume activities from their daily life by building muscle strength, said Jenny Adams of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital.
"The truth of the matter is when you ask these patients what their goals are, they want to lift their grandkids, work in the yard," Adams said.
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On the Net:
American Heart Association: http:/
