Ask anyone about fitness, and you’ll most likely hear something about running. Most of us hold to the standard that running equals physical health. However, recent research results suggest the running is only a small contributor to overall physical health.
True, running will help your heart, but as we get older, running alone won’t help much in tackling heart disease and osteoporosis. Gianni Maddalozzo, PhD, an exercise physiologist at Oregon State University,

focuses on the study of osteoporosis and muscle strength in adults ages 40 to 80. Most of his subjects suffer from advanced sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass that occurs naturally — and inevitably — with age. Sarcopenia, in other words, is the scientific term for a phenomenon that Shakespeare identifies with the sixth age of man: the gray, traditionally enfeebled years of the “shrunk shank.”

While the details and explanation of this research is a bit more complex than “muscle good,” it comes down to having muscle will benefit you as you age. The more muscle you have, the better your bone density and ability to serves as the body’s armor against several age-related diseases as well as heart problems, diabetes, and even cancer. Read this article, and change your views on weight lifting; pumping iron becomes much more crucial to us in this light.

Special Report: Fight Age With Muscle from health.msn.com