Why you should lift weights if you are over 50!

It's a longish title but then we still gave a long way to go once we hit 50 years of age, well that's the plan anyway. We should be lifting weights throughout our life but I want to focus on why it's important for us middle aged folk to get under a bar.

Let's start with the obvious then, if we lift weights and follow an appropriate and progressive training plan then we will more than likely get stronger. This is great because it means that we are obviously making “gainz” in our training and seeing any improvements is motivational. Consistency in training is vital at this stage in our lives and steady progress is the aim.

Age is no limit to "gainz" made!

However, there are many other reasons why getting stronger and growing a little muscle is a good thing beyond squatting a new personal best. Being more muscular as we age dramatically reduces the risk of all cause morbidity by a significant amount. That’s right, being more muscular reduces our risk of dying early! Not necessarily steroidal bodybuilding muscular, just more muscular than average for our age group.

This is important and I don't think that it's widely enough known or promoted. The scope and potential benefits to society and the health service as a whole are huge as an ageing population continues to grow and consume the time and resources of an already struggling health care system. Something as simple as attending the gym 3 times per week and putting a little effort in can have a huge impact on the individual, society and the health care services.

Being more muscular reduces the risk of dying!

We are living longer with more time spent in retirement. For most of us our upcoming retirement will be one filled with activity, time spent with the family and travel. In order to maintain a quality of life that allows us to do this and enjoy it we must remain fit, strong and healthy. As I’ve already mentioned above training just 3 times per week can make a significant difference. Please consult your doctor before embarking on any form of training.

We lose muscle mass more rapidly as we age which will leave us weaker and less mobile. To counter this we must weight train, whether that’s free weights or resistance machines makes no difference. Maintaining or even increasing our lean muscle mass as we age has to be a training priority if our goal is to have some quality of life in retirement or even before.

Being weaker means that everyday tasks become harder, lifting the shopping or climbing stairs. Eventually it’s a struggle getting off the couch!

Maintaining our range of movement through our joints and muscles is essential, if we don’t move our bodies through a wide range of movements then we will potentially lose that ability to move through those ranges and will become limited, stiff and immobile. Strength training is a great way to ensure that our muscles and joints remain mobile.

Be strong and mobile

Keeping our muscles strong and functional and our joints mobile will ensure that we maintain our posture too, a good posture suggests confidence, health and vitality. Clothes fit better and we generally look fitter and younger than our untrained, less muscular and poorly postured peers.

Weight training has also been shown to promote hormonal balance and boost our metabolism, it will also help to maintain our bodies systems and functions at a higher level.

If you are not sure how to start your weight training journey or need further advice and help then reach out to a good coach or PT at your local gym. Failing that you can email me at tsilvester@getcoached.net with any questions.

Ageing - My View

These are my views and opinions on ageing, training and the things we should consider to ensure we get the most from our bodies and our training sessions. There’s no real science or research behind my comments, just experience and knowledge gained over the years.

One thing we must accept is that we will age; However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we will get “older” at the same rate that we age. I think that we need to differentiate between age as in years on this planet and getting old which I feel is more a state of mind than a physical manifestation.

Accept it, we're getting older day by day

So let’s look at how getting old can impact us. It’s widely accepted that the mind is a powerful thing, if you think you can or you think you can’t you are right. What I mean by this is that all things being equal as in there are no extenuating circumstances such as illness or injury then if you think you are unable to do something because you are getting old or if you think that you shouldn’t be doing something because you are getting old then you won’t be able to do it!

It’s something of a self fulfilling prophecy, if you deliberately think negatively then eventually you will feel miserable and this has come from within you, no external input needed. Likewise if you smile at people, say hi and think positive thoughts then some people might think you strange but you will feel happy and positive.

No barriers to working out

My point being that chronological age is no barrier to working out, attitude is everything. I have a client who started lifting towards the end of last year and wasn’t sure they could lift a 20kg kettlebell and they recently completed a Deadlift for 5 reps at 50kg. She is 70 and is continuing to get stronger!

Chronological age will bring its own issues and we need to pay heed to them. Our bodies don’t have the recovery or regenerative abilities they had at 20. Hormone levels are lower, there is a decrease in organ mass as well as a decline in the functional reserve of the bodies systems, more on this in another post. That said our bodies can still be robust and withstand quality training sessions at twice that age and more, much more. However, respect must be paid to our bodies and we accept we are ageing and understand that we may have to do some things a little differently.

For example, I have played rugby for over 30 years, some of this at a reasonable standard. Fortunately I didn’t get any serious injuries, just wear and tear. I know I can’t do a lot of running or spin classes, high volumes of jumping also aggravate my knees and back. Nothing serious but enough to be uncomfortable and slow my training down. So I don’t run, jump or spin! Rowing is fine as is Stair Climbing, and I can lift so that’s what I do.

It's all a bit hit & miss

This whole training and ageing thing can be a bit a bit of a trial and error process, trying to figure out what will cause some kind of negative reaction and what works to improve our health, strength and fitness. Sometimes we need to take an extra rest day or change training plans to maybe do a recovery session. This isn’t quitting or giving up, it’s being sensible and listening to your body so that you get the most from it. Better to rest one day than be injured and unable to train for a week or more!

The health benefits gained by continuing to lift are many, and have been covered before. So keep moving, don’t be afraid to lift weights; in fact I wholeheartedly recommend it! If you are thinking of returning to training after a long lay off or even starting for the first time as you’ve just retired then definitely do it. Check in with your GP, talk to a Personal Trainer and go for it, you won’t regret it!

Thanks again for reading this far, I hope you have found this informative and helpful. If you have any questions that aren’t answered here please email me at tsilvester@getcoached.net or via my Facebook page @getcoached.net