‘Strength Training Bible for Seniors’ Helps People Over 50 Stay Fit And Active For Successful Aging

A new book is helping seniors stay fit with a focus on strength training so they can stay active and mobile, continue everyday tasks, and reduce the risk of falling.

“The Strength Training Bible for Seniors: The Ultimate Fitness Guide for the Rest of Your Life” by Dr. Karl Knopf is a guidebook covering all the workout needs of seniors aged 50 and older, including stretching, core strength, weight and resistance training, and kettlebell workouts to help build muscle and increase flexibility.

“While many seniors — people 50 and older — understand the importance of aerobic exercise, many neglect a critical component to successful aging: maintaining strength and power,” Dr. Knopf says. “Specifically, a lack of strength and power in our legs, trunk, and arms reduces our ability to attend to basic activities of daily living. This weakness increases the risk of falling and reduces our independence.”

Studies show that an active lifestyle is one of the keys to a long life, and strength training — whether in your core, arms, legs, or back — is an essential component of fitness regardless of age. 

Dr. Knopf has spent more than 40 years focused on the health and fitness of older adults and the disabled, working in nearly every aspect of the industry, from personal training and therapy to consultation. At Foothill College, Knopf was the coordinator of the Adaptive Fitness Technician Program and Lifelong Learning Institute, and taught disabled students and undergraduates about corrective exercise.

Knopf also developed the Fitness Educators of Older Adults Association to guide those who train older adults. He currently serves as a director at the International Sports Science Association and is on the advisory board of the PBS series “Sit and Be Fit.”

“The Strength Training Bible for Seniors” presents functional exercises carefully adapted and tested to provide complete and customizable total-body workouts for people 50 years and older. According to Dr. Knopf, the book is designed to be a comprehensive resource to help you create your own personalized plan for becoming — and staying — strong and flexible.