As we enter our later years, we're entreated to the gradual decline of muscle mass, physical capacity, metabolic rate, cognitive and respiratory vigour.
Strength training is proven to be a powerful preserver of health and physical function at any age.
Likewise, fish oil supplementation is one of the few elixirs that has some grounding in evidence for its health-enhancing prowess.
The effects of a combined concoction of strength training and fish oil are still unclear, so researchers investigated.
28 healthy older adults were assigned to 3 groups for 12 weeks:
Control (CON), resistance training (RT), resistance training with fish oil (RTFO).
Markers of handgrip strength, physical function, and blood pressure were taken before and after.
The CON group experienced no change or ‘significantly decreased' functional markers. Meanwhile, all markers of strength and physical function improved in both the RT and RTFO group.
Only the RTFO group also had a substantial decrease in blood pressure.
The study concluded that chronic resistance training enhances strength and physical function.
No surprises there.
Lifting combined with fish oil consumption also led to improvements in blood pressure in older adults.
Something to think about well before we approach the afternoon of life to help safeguard our health and functional independence for as long as possible.
Reference
- Chronic Fish Oil Consumption with Resistance Training Improves Grip Strength, Physical Function, and Blood Pressure in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Sang-Rok Lee, et al. 2019