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THE STRONGWOMEN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
Cooperative Extension’s Unique Role:
 Provides non-biased, research-based consumer information
to help Pennsylvanians maximize resources by making
healthier choices, set goals, and achieve goals.
 Promotes desirable healthy behaviors such as
understanding food choices and increasing the amount of
time spent in physical activity.
 Serves as a program leader and facilitator at the community
and state level.
 Offers educational programs that are practical, based upon pre and post assessment.
 Is responsive to the state’s changing health needs of our state’s increased aging
population.
Key Health Messages:
Lifestyle modification measures are clearly the key in prevention. Weight-bearing physical
activity at all ages is strongly recommended because of its multiple benefits.
Your skeleton is alive.
Exercise makes bones stronger.
Bones change overtime.
Osteoporosis is responsible for 1.5 million fractures in one year.
Make bone-healthy choices through diet, exercise, life style.
Postmenopausal women are especially prone to osteoporosis because they lack estrogen.
Calcium supplements are not enough.
The more bone you build early in life, the better you will be able to withstand the bone loss that
starts to occur by about age 35.
America is in a calcium crisis: nine out of 10 women, seven out of 10 men, and three out of four
teenagers do not get enough calcium. After the age of 11, no age group achieves even 75% of
the calcium it needs. Calcium deficiency is a chronic public health problem that begins early in
life. Low calcium intake is one of the most significant nutrient deficiencies identified in the
federal government's Healthy People 2010. When there's not enough calcium in the
bloodstream, the body attempts to pull calcium from the bones, which thins and weakens them
Public Value Statements:
Changes: Increase wellness/fitness; increase strength; increase flexibility; increase nutrition
Outcomes: Decrease risk for osteoporosis; reduce falls; improves balance
Private Benefits: Independent living; improves quality of life; decreases private insurance costs
Public Benefits: Reduce healthcare costs; reduce long-term care costs; decreases taxes
Key Benefits: Strength training helps combat weakness, frailty and the debilitating
consequences of these issues in older adults.
Strength training for 60 minutes two or three times a week * can increase muscle and bone
mass, preserve bone density, muscle strength, increase walking speed, flexibility and dynamic
balance, and can help control body weight and enhance self-confidence, self-esteem and
independence. Strength training also helps reduce the symptoms of other chronic diseases such
as arthritis, depression, type-2 diabetes, sleep disorder and heart disease. Research shows that
strength training in older adults with functional limitations helps reduce the incidence of falls
and other injuries.
Strength training also improves posture and builds a good immune system.
StrongWomen
participants report better health, improved eating habits, and increased selection of healthy foods.
Terminology:
Strength training has a variety of specialized terms used to describe parameters of strength
training:
 Exercise - different exercises involve moving joints in specific patterns to challenge
muscles in different ways
 Form - each exercise has a specific form, a topography of movement designed to
maximize safety and muscle strength gains
 Rep - short for repetition, a rep is a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in a
controlled manner, moving through the form of the exercise
 Set - a set consists of several repetitions performed one after another with no break
between them with the number of reps per set and sets per exercise depending on the
goal of the individual.
 Tempo - the speed with which an exercise is performed; the tempo of a movement has
implications for the weight that can be moved and the effects on the muscle.
All of these components are important because they keep the fidelity or integrity of the
program based upon researched methods.
According to popular theory:
 Sets of one to five repetitions primarily develop strength, with less impact on muscle
size and none on endurance.
 Sets of six to twelve repetitions develop a balance of strength, muscle size and
endurance.
Reference:
Sequin, Rebecca, and Miriam Nelson. (2003). The Benefits of Strength Training for Older Adults.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 25, Issue 2, October 2003, pg. 141-149.
*American College of Sports Medicine Recommendation
(030209)
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