Every once in a while you find a piece of research that just makes you want to jump for joy - this was that study.   For years at Life By Design, we have been talking about the importance of strength training to every aspect of your life. Bottom line: it's a requirement for an optimal body.   In this University of Sydney study, researchers found that people from 55-85 years of age with mild cognitive dysfunction became smarter after 6 months of strength training.   But that is not it...they also found that the subjects who strength trained had a bigger and different looking brains! The researchers were excited for what this could mean to people with neurodegenerative disorders like dementia and Alzheimer's.   My favorite part of the study was that the subjects were put through a legitimate strength training program. That's quite rare in studies of this sort and it was wonderful to see for a change. The results speak for themselves.   What we covered:

• Don't mess around with requirements. You can if you really want to, but you will only be hurting yourself.
• How you develop strength, and why most people (especially women) are scared to strength train.
• How to develop your own strength training program. What are the most basic things you should do to continue improving your strength.
• The most common mistakes made when attempting to perform a strength training program. Make sure you avoid them.