Teddy Roosevelt was a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War, but he was a 90-pound weakling as a youngster, suffering from asthma, gastroenteritis, fevers and general failure to thrive ...UNTIL a doctor and his father told him he had to start exercising.

From age 12 to 17 he challenged himself daily, pumping iron and boxing, and he overcame his life-threatening health problems.

Teddy worked out, and his life worked out pretty well!

You need to get (and stay) pumped up, too. Around age 30, muscle mass starts declining.

That's especially true if you, like 79 percent of North Americans, are sedentary. And even if you're active, you're going to need to push it to overcome an age-related, muscle-defeating decline in hormones (growth hormone, testosterone, insulin-like growth factor) and protein synthesis.

Losing muscle mass makes you vulnerable to everything from obesity to falls.

The good news? You can increase your strength 25 percent to 30 percent, and add over two pounds of muscle (that's a lot!) in around 18 weeks with progressive resistance training.

To start, use your own body weight as resistance. Three days a week, do exercises like push-ups and sit-ups or yoga, tai chi and Pilates.

Dr. Mike's Cleveland Clinic suggests you choose eight exercises and do 10-12 reps of each. Then graduate to resistance bands or 1-2 pound hand weights. About every two weeks, increase your number of reps (up to 12) or speed and/or weight.

As Teddy Roosevelt said, "The best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."



© 2014 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.