I’ve noticed a trend over the past few years, that trend consists of the barbell getting more popular with people who are into their 50’s and beyond.
It’s great to see given that there are so many misconceptions around lifting, obviously the word is spreading about the benefits it can have on your health and longevity.
In this article, I’m not going to try and convince you into lifting weights, but instead present you with the current data and what we know about the benefits it can have on the aging population.
The Common Narrative
I must take myself back to when I was 14.
This was the time when my dad first got me into lifting weights, I remember how I felt.
I was a little nervous, unsure and didn’t know what to expect.
I can understand then, why someone who has lived forty, fifty or even sixty years more than me, may feel like this is an unnecessary stress that they don’t need in their lives.
Hopefully I can present an alternative perspective today.
The gym can be an intimidating place because it’s new.
It’s likely that if you have got to this age, you are comfortable with the things you know and are good at.
You can see then, why going into an unfamiliar environment as an older person, may feel a little daunting initially.
Therefore, many older people do not consider the possibility of giving this a go, because they are unwilling to step into the unknown.
Another factor of course is that lifting weights has become synonymous with big scary men, that judge you and tell you what you are doing incorrectly.
It’s true, that negative experiences can happen in the gym, just like anywhere else.
But (and this is a big but) this is extremely rare and often, people are just cracking on with what they must do that day.
Once the first few weeks are out the way, you’ll understand this is no place to be intimidated by.
Instead, this is a place that ensures self-development like no other.
It’s a place that can help you achieve things you never thought possible.
It’s a place that will help you discover your hidden potential.
The Facts
As we age, all of us will inevitably undergo the biological process of losing muscle mass and strength. This is also referred to as sarcopenia.
From the time you are born to around 40, your muscles grow larger and stronger. As we age past this point, the inevitable process of sarcopenia will start to kick in.
In untrained populations, muscle loss can occur up to 3-8% after each decade at around the age of 30 (1) and rates of loss can increase after the age of 60. (2)(3)
This, therefore, has an inevitable impact on individual’s freedom to move their body as they once did when they were younger.
Another fact to consider is the process of osteopenia which is also very common in people after the age of 50, especially women.
Osteopenia is a loss of bone mineral density, which results in weaker and fragile bones.
Numerous research has found how strength training can not only make your muscles stronger, but also increase the density and strength of bones. (4)
Along with this, there has also been significant data supporting that grip strength is strongly correlated with all cause mortality. In this study, higher grip strength was correlated with lower cause mortality from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and all cancers. (5)
Overall, strength training has been found to be the most effective treatment to slow down the process of sarcopenia, osteopenia, and many other biological degradation symptoms and therefore, should be argued that strength training is even more important especially as you age. (6)
The Worry of Getting Hurt
Many people fear what they do not understand.
Especially when the media has been so misleading over the years.
We have commonly heard that deadlifts are bad for your back, squats are bad for your knees. Even though to my knowledge, there is not one long term, legitimate research study supporting these claims.
In fact, the data suggests the total opposite.
A 2018 review published in MOJ Yoga & Physical Therapy explored the benefits of performing squats, deadlifts, and bench press had on strength and overall health. It concluded that a physiological response of the deadlift was whole body strength, power, and sports performance. (7)
Funnily enough, this study found that full range of motion squats with good form, helped improve knee and hip stability. (8)
Think about this, you are already squatting down to pick things up.
You are already bending over at the hips to carry objects.
You are already doing these movement patterns in everyday life!
The only difference is that most of the time people are performing them with sub-optimal form and getting hurt.
Or they are unstable and falling over.
An important point is this, you do not get injured in the gym if you are doing this correctly, instead you get injured in everyday life outside the gym when you are weak.
That is why more and more people are suffering from lower back pain, joint pain, and other physical disabilities.
It’s important to wrap your head around the fact, that lifting is not the enemy despite what you have previously been told, it is in fact, your friend.
My Personal Experiences Working with the Ageing Adult
Strength is a neural adaptation.
Meaning that although you will lose muscle as you get older, you can still make those muscles stronger (especially if you are previously untrained) through improving the brains ability to recruit muscles and contract them.
In simple terms, you can absolutely get stronger as you age, but your potential will diminish over the years due to the process of sarcopenia.
Of course, training advancement plays a massive role in this too.
If you have lifted since you were 14 like me, it is likely that you will reach peak strength around 40-45 if you are lucky.
Why?
You have likely maxed out your neural capabilities with the muscle you already have.
But for someone who has just picked this up?
I have seen people be the strongest they have EVER been in their 60s.
Truly.
You see, not only is this important for your health and longevity, but it also has a profound impact on offering a path of self-development, even as you age.
Many people give-up and call it quits past a certain point, I have personally watched people neglect their health and continue to do nothing about it.
These are the same people that are unable to get out of their chair without pain later in life, let alone play with their grandkids in the garden.
My best friend has a goal of sprinting 100 metres when he’s in his 80’s, only if this was the case for more people.
There’s also a huge identity component to all this too.
As human beings, we like to feel like we have a passion and a purpose.
After retirement, many people do not know what to do with their free time.
From a personal anecdotal perspective, I have seen people completely lost not knowing what to do with their time.
I have also watched people take their health and fitness more seriously, and seen them grow, prosper, and become significantly more fulfilled through strength training.
Understand this, it is never too late to have this realisation.
At the end of the day, when will being strong ever be a disservice to you?
To finish, remember this quote from Mark Bell next time you have a hesitancy going to the gym, “Strength is never a weakness and weakness is never a strength”.
Give it a go, you won’t regret it.
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804956/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20striking,60%20%5B4%2C5%5D.
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10959208/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10855597/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6279907/
- https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1651
- https://eurapa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s11556-021-00277-7#:~:text=It%20should%20be%20noted%20however,as%20they%20approach%20older%20age.
- http://medcraveonline.com/MOJYPT/MOJYPT-03-00042.pdf
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11194098/
