20251010 - 力量训练与长寿：深蹲的健康益处 - The Exercise That Promotes Longevity

• 分类: Clippings
• 创建: 2025-10-10
• 标签: 力量训练, 长寿, 深蹲, 健康, 肌肉质量, 老龄化, 预防, 骨骼健康, 平衡, 独立性, 心血管健康

The Exercise That Promotes Longevity

摘要 (Summary)

这篇文章讨论了力量训练，特别是深蹲运动，对健康和长寿的重要性。文章指出，30岁以后肌肉质量开始下降，每十年损失的百分比增加，60岁以后可能达到15%。然而，力量训练可以减缓这种负面影响，帮助老年人延长寿命。深蹲被推荐为一种有效的体重练习，可以激活多个肌肉群和系统，改善姿势、关节灵活性、骨骼强度和平衡，预防与年龄相关的肌肉流失。文章还强调了从年轻时开始力量训练的重要性，并提供了如何开始力量训练和50岁后应做的关键练习的建议。

要点 (Key Facts)

• 30岁后，肌肉质量开始以每年3%到8%的速度下降，60岁后可能达到15%。
• 力量训练可以减缓肌肉流失，帮助延长寿命。
• 深蹲是一种推荐的体重练习，可激活多种系统，预防肌肉流失，改善姿势和关节灵活性。
• 从年轻时开始力量训练有助于建立坚实的肌肉基础。
• 力量训练不限于举重，体重练习同样有效。
• 50岁后，建议进行包括深蹲、硬拉、肩推、划船、握力练习、单侧练习、俯卧撑、仰卧起坐和跳跃等多种练习。

正文 (Content)

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but by the age of 30, we start losing between 3% and 8% of muscle mass. Worse, the percentages increase per decade. After age 60, the loss can reach up to 15%.
坏消息是，到 30 岁时，我们开始失去 3%到 8%的肌肉质量。更糟糕的是，这些百分比每十年都在增加。60 岁以后，肌肉损失可能达到 15%。

The good news? Strength training can mitigate the negative effects. According to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, evidence suggests “that just like heart-pumping aerobic exercise, strength training also may help older adults live longer,” Harvard Health notes.
好消息是？力量训练可以减轻负面影响。根据发表在《英国运动医学杂志》上的一项研究，证据表明“就像心脏泵动的有氧运动一样，力量训练也可能帮助老年人延长寿命，”哈佛健康指出。

Even better, you needn’t pump iron to receive the benefits: body weight exercises are also an accessible and effective way to gain muscle mass and prevent its loss. And, when it comes to body weight exercises, there’s one in particular that experts recommend: Squats.
更好的消息是，你不需要举重就能获得这些好处：体重练习也是一种可访问且有效的方式来增加肌肉质量并防止其流失。而且，谈到体重练习，专家们特别推荐一种：深蹲。

“Squats and strength exercises from the age of 50 are key,” confirms David Ramirez, director at Viding Castellana in Madrid. “They help us to maintain mobility in the hips, knees, and ankles; to gain strength in the glutes, quadriceps, and core; and to ward off the onset of diseases such as osteoporosis or osteoarthritis.”

Longevity and strength training

The benefits of strength training go beyond strong muscles. While we tend to associate longevity with healthy habits such as following a nutritious diet and sleeping well, maintaining muscle strength is also one of the best predictors of life expectancy. Studies have found that muscle weakness—especially in the legs—is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and a loss of independence.

“Muscle is a metabolically active tissue; it produces energy and helps cell synthesis,” Ramirez explains. “Therefore, the greater your strength, the greater the ability to remain autonomous and active.” Not to mention: “Strength is also a cardiovascular exercise. We shouldn’t limit our heart care to classic ‘cardio,’ because lifting weights also supports the heart.”

Squats for health

Squats activate everything, from the large muscle groups to the cardiovascular, neuromotor, and skeletal systems. In addition to improving posture and joint mobility, they help prevent age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia), strengthen bones, improve balance, reduce the risk of falls, and even increase insulin sensitivity.

But there’s no reason to not wait until the age of 50 to start strength training: “If we start in childhood or youth, we get a more solid musculoskeletal formation and a strength base that will protect us all our lives,” Ramirez notes.

Take the findings from the famous “ sit-to-stand test ” (SRT), which was published in 2012: Those who “passed” the test with ease were found to have a significantly lower risk of dying in the following years. “We can’t know the exact years of life a person has, but people with a low score tend to have a shorter life expectancy,” Ramirez notes. “By practicing squats, you work on very similar movement patterns and strengthen the physical abilities involved: mobility, balance and strength.”

How to start strength training

If you’ve never done strength training and are intimated by idea, don’t be—strength training is for everyone, and it’s never too late to start. “It’s not about lifting 200 pounds,” assures Ramirez. “My recommendation is to start low with guided analytical exercises—for example, using the weight machines at the gym—and progress from there.”

Of course, technique matters. If you haven’t exercised in a while or are working with injuries, it’s smart to work with a professional trainer who can provide modifications and monitor your form. (Even those who are fitness veterans can benefit from a check-in with a pro.)

Once you master the proper technique, you can work with your own body weight or with free weights. The key is to progress slowly and safely, increasing reps or speed to improve strength and power, another ability that decreases with age and is important for the prevention of serious falls and fractures.

Key exercises after 50

In addition to squats, Ramirez recommends training your body with a variety of exercises. Some essential moves include:

• Deadlifts —strengthens the posterior chain and teaches how to lift weights from the floor without damaging the back.
• Shoulder presses —improves shoulder thrust and stability.
• Rows with a barbell —corrects posture, strengthens the back, and prevents kyphosis (dowager’s hump).
• Grip exercises —hanging from a bar or carrying weight improves overall strength and cardiac health.
• Unilateral exercises —moving one side of the body at a time improves balance.
• Push-ups and sit-ups —these weight-bearing exercises are accessible and very functional.
• Jumps —improves foot strength, power, and stability

Will doing squats help me live longer?

While there are no guarantees that doing squats will help you live to be 100, they will certainly help you live with more strength, power, mobility, and independence. Maintaining muscle strength after 50 is a way of shielding yourself from diseases linked to aging—including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and osteoporosis. Within the range of available exercises, squats can be a powerful tool. Living longer may be the goal, but living well is the priority.

Have a beauty or wellness trend you’re curious about? We want to know! Send Vogue’ s senior beauty & wellness editor an email at beauty@vogue.com.