Thought #464: Trial session at FitX: Why endurance alone isn't enough for our bones as we age

Look, as you get older, at some point you start thinking honestly about what your own body actually needs – not just to somehow keep going, but to stay truly stable, mobile and healthy. Until now I often thought: I move a lot in everyday life, I ride a Nextbike through Leipzig or do my laps on inline skates out at Lake Cospuden (Cospudener See). So my Heart Points on the watch add up.

But is pure endurance really enough as we get older? That’s exactly what I wanted to find out, so I went to a trial session at FitX here in Leipzig, right by the Berliner Brücke, on Wollkämmereistraße.

There, Lennart guided me through the check and the introduction as my trainer. And talking with him showed me once again, very clearly, where my blind spot was. Because endurance training – whether on inline skates at Lake Cospuden or on the bike – is of course great for the cardiovascular system. But on its own it doesn’t solve two central problems of getting older: the invisible visceral fat in the belly and the creeping loss of muscle mass and bone density.

Lennart showed me right there at the machines: as we age, our bones need real mechanical pulling and pressing stimuli from targeted strength training. Without those stimuli, from 30 on – and all the more past fifty – the body loses muscle mass step by step. And with it, the skeleton loses its most important shield. At the same time, active muscle mass is the most effective engine for reducing the dangerous inner belly fat – the visceral fat around the organs – for good.

So for me, this session with Lennart at the Berliner Brücke was more than just a trial workout at the gym. It was a real change of perspective: away from simply collecting Heart Points, towards a combination of endurance out in nature and targeted strength building for your own substance.

How do you handle this in everyday life, especially those of you who, like me, aren’t twenty anymore: do you still rely on movement and endurance alone – or are you already consciously giving your muscles and bones the resistance they need?

Show fact-check & sources

Editor’s fact-check & context

The gym: the FitX Torsten calls “by the Berliner Brücke” is officially FitX Leipzig-Mockau Süd, Wollkämmereistraße 4, 04347 Leipzig (FitX).
Heart Points and the WHO recommendation: the World Health Organization recommends that adults – including people over 65 – get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous endurance activity per week. Google Fit’s Heart Points are based on this weekly target. According to the WHO, endurance alone is not enough: on at least two days a week, muscle-strengthening exercise for all major muscle groups should be added, and for older adults also balance training (WHO 2020; German summary: Bayerisches Ärzteblatt 3/2021).
Muscle loss from 30: without counter-measures, people lose roughly 3 to 8% of their muscle mass per decade from about age 30, faster in later life (sarcopenia).
Bones need load: bone tissue adapts to the forces acting on it (Wolff’s law). The pull of muscles and tendons during strength training stimulates bone-building cells, maintains bone density and helps prevent osteoporosis and falls. Steady, joint-friendly endurance such as cycling or swimming usually gives weaker stimuli. The German osteoporosis guideline therefore recommends strength and balance training (DVO-Leitlinie Osteoporose (AWMF 183-001)).
Visceral fat: the inner belly fat around the liver and gut is hormonally active and promotes inflammation; it raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Reviews show that combining endurance and strength training reduces it particularly well, because more muscle mass raises the basal metabolic rate and insulin sensitivity.