Many older
women think weightlifting is for men, or (at the very least) for younger women.
However, the benefits of weightlifting for older women are striking.

So, here
are 5 reasons to lift weights when you are older. Let me see if I can persuade
you to give it a go.

Weight Training Will Reduce Your Chances of Falling

Around a
third of people aged 65 and over fall at least once a year. For some it can be
a trivial fall, but for many it results in broken bones and loss of confidence.
It also tends to increase the fear of falling again. Ironically, being afraid
of falling can almost double your chances of actually falling.

Strength
training using weights builds the support structure your skeleton needs. Stronger
muscles, ligaments and tendons help to stabilise the joints. Lifting heavy
weights also teaches your body to react quickly to a destabilising load.

Thus, when
you stumble or start to fall, you can instinctively recover more easily. Your
body will have developed a much better sense of where your limbs are in space.
It will know what your back is doing. It can more easily correct the imbalance
and bring you back to stability.

In other
words, it will mean that you are less likely to fall, and respectively, you
will worry less about the possibility of falling.

Lifting Weights Will Limit Bone Fragility

According
to Harvard Health Publishing, bone mass
declines at a rate of 1 percent per year after age
40. As you get older, you will be more and more likely to break bones, unless
you do something to prevent this bone density loss.

In the USA,
an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall every 11 seconds; an
older adult dies from a fall every 19 minutes. These are terrifying figures.

You can delay
this decrease in bone density by putting your bones under resistance, and one of
the best and most focussed ways to do this is by lifting weights.

When older
people fall, they often break bones, lose confidence and become even more
anxious. If you weight train regularly, you are less likely to break bones even
if you do fall. And you are likely to recover much more quickly too.

Working Out Will Help You to Be More Independent

Many older
women live on their own. Of necessity, they have to do things for themselves.
Weight training makes all sorts of everyday jobs easier. Opening jars becomes
easier. Moving furniture becomes easier.

Carrying
shopping becomes easier. Even walking becomes easier. Even if you live with
someone else, they may not always want to help and support you. They may be
tired or ill and looking for support themselves.

Lifting Weights Will Reduce Your Bingo Wings

Bingo
wings are those flabby bits of skin that hang down from your upper arms. Many
women wear longer sleeved clothes to hide them.

Most older
women have bingo wings to some extent. The ones who don’t are often the ones
who go to a gym or workout at home. I sometimes joke that bingo wings are
nature’s way of telling you that you need to go to the gym. Having strong,
toned arms is definitely a goal worth working towards.

Weight Training Will Improve Your Posture

One of the
giveaways of bone loss as people get older is that their posture changes. They slump
forward and they sag.

Having
good posture can immediately make you look a lot slimmer. It can also make you
look a lot younger and more energetic. This benefit won’t happen immediately
but will come along at the same time as a stronger back. Another great benefit
of lifting heavy weights.

I hope
I’ve convinced you, but you may be worried that I keep talking about “heavy
weights.” Sadly, many women go to the gym and train with very light dumbbells.
They don’t break into a sweat. They don’t need to concentrate.

They often
spend time talking to a companion while they swing light weights backwards and
forwards, using momentum to do most of the work. This will definitely not get
you the benefits discussed here. You need to lift heavy weights.

How Heavy Is a Heavy Weight?

“Heavy
weights” are heavy for you, so it varies from person to person. How do you
determine what weight you should be lifting? In general, for most exercises you
will do 8 to 15 repetitions (reps). You will do 2 to 3 sets, resting for 30 to
90 seconds between each set.

That’s
fairly straight forward, but what weights should you use? It’s really simple.

Start Light

It’s
better to be too light than too heavy when you start.

Prioritise Form Over Weight

Good form
means that you are doing the exercise correctly. You are using the correct
muscles for that exercise. It means being aware of how your ankles, knees and
pelvis are aligned.

It
involves being aware of what your back and shoulders are doing. It means not
using momentum to swing the weights or leaning back inappropriately.

Choose the Right Weights

Choose a
weight where the last 2 or 3 repetitions in any set are really hard. You
couldn’t do any more with proper form.

Go for Progress

Aim to
make progress, so that you gradually increase the weights you lift. You can
also make progress by shortening the breaks between sets or increasing the
number of reps in each set.

I get great benefits and joy from lifting weights. So much so that I post short gym videos on my Instagram account to inspire older women to become as passionate about weight lifting as I am.

You can also check out my blog for articles on health and well-being for older people.

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Let’s Have a Conversation:

How
often do you go to the gym? Do you lift weights? How heavy are your weights? Have
I convinced you to go for progress? If you don’t yet frequent the gym, what’s
stopping you? I’d love to know. Please share your thoughts and experiences with
our community.