NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Lifting Weights Can Be So Potent for Aging Well. “Weight training by older people may build not only strength and muscle mass but also motivation and confidence, potentially spurring them to continue exercising, according to an interesting new study of the emotional impacts of lifting weights. The findings intimate that people worried that they might be too old or inept to start resistance training should perhaps try it, to see how their bodies and minds respond.”

What’s really impressive is how many old people went on lifting after the study was over and they were on their own. Plus: “Also surprising, the researchers discovered little direct correlation between muscle and motivation. The people who had gained the most strength or muscle mass during the study were not necessarily those most likely to stick to the training. Instead, it was those who had come to feel most competent in the gym.”