A new study shows that 1 year of this kind of exercise yields results 4 years later

Exercise is good, but resistance training with heavy weight is great! That's especially true if you are looking to maintain strength in older age, a new study shows.

Retirement should be filled with time with loved ones, relaxation and—according to new research—heavy lifting.

As people get older, their skeletal muscle function declines, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.

“If you do resistance training at this age, benefits in some parameters may last several years,” said lead study author Mads Bloch-Ibenfeldt, a doctoral student at the Institute of Sports Medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.

To investigate whether resistance exercise programs could be helpful in the long term, researchers performed a randomized control trial with 369 recently retired and healthy adults who were between 64 and 75 years old.

The participants were assigned one of three exercise programs for a year. They either lifted weights three times a week, did moderate-intensity training using their body weight and resistance bands three times a week, or did not change their usual exercise routines, the study said.

Researchers measured their bone and muscle strength as well as body fat levels at the start of the trial at the end of the one-year program and then two and four years later, according to the study. It was up to the individuals whether they continued their strength training regimen or went back to their normal exercise level,

Resistance training with heavy loads yielded the greatest long-lasting benefit in leg strength, the study showed. Even four years after the training, their leg strength was unaltered, whereas the moderate-intensity group did see a decrease – although it wasn’t significant, the study showed.