Many middle-age women lose muscle and gain fat as they age. Work and family responsibilities make it difficult for them to get back that smoking hot body they had in high school or college, before they had kids. Many are self-conscious and intimidated by training on machines in sophisticated health clubs dominated by 20-something year old kids. Elastic band training provides a simple, inexpensive way for women to get back into shape and restore old exercise habits. A study from Appalachian State University, by Juan Colado and Travis Triplett, showed that middle-aged women who trained with elastic bands or weight machines for 10 weeks made similar improvements in body composition and muscle endurance. Elastic band training increased muscle endurance by nearly 25 percent (knee push-ups, free squats), decreased fat by nearly 3 percent, and increased lean mass (mainly muscle) by nearly 2 percent. Elastic band training is wellsuited for sedentary middle-aged women because it’s cheap, safe, effective and they can do it at home. (Journal Strength Conditioning Research, 22: 1441-1448, 2008)