Give yourself a lift

WEIGHT TRAINING CAN HAVE IMPORTANT BENEFITS FOR THE OVER 60S, HERE'S HOW TO GET STARTED. BY CAMILLA FOSTER

- CAMILLA FOSTER

NEW research suggests that doing 90 minutes to two hours of weight training per week can slash the risk of an early death.

The new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, involved 147,374 people who were asked every two years, for a 30-year follow up period, about how much time they spent doing aerobic exercise and strength training.

Researchers found that the people who undertook resistance training regularly and kept it up for the long term lowered the chance of early death from any cause by 13% - and by 19% when it came to conditions such as heart disease and stroke.

The findings also suggested that those who lifted weights or used things like resistance bands or bodyweight exercises had a 27% lower risk of dying from neurological disease.

Here's how to get started:

Start with a movement screen

‘‘Best practice is to have a functional movement screen,’’ recommends Samuel Quinn, personal training lead at Nuffield Health.