Lifting weights has been viewed by many as a young person’s game. That’s changed. In recent years, we’ve seen an explosion of published biomedical evidence on resistance training in the aged, women and people suffering from a broad spectrum of health conditions. What this growing body of data tells us is that everybody who can lift weights should lift weights…esp. those over the age of 40. Women need strength training more than men – generally speaking women weigh less and when they lose oestrogen they lose bon at an even faster rate than men.
All athletes need ST, even endurance athletes. Extreme athletes, such as those involved in the brutal sport we call ageing, need strength the most. Think of the ability to carry out activities of daily life – getting out of bed, getting up out of a comfy chair, snatching a child from danger, carrying your grocery bags, playing Frisbee with your dog or grandchildren, remodelling a bathroom, hiking or making love. These are activities which don’t involve anything aerobic like running/biking skiing for hours. They all involve expressions of strength power mobility and balance.
Women of a certain age (i.e. over 40) generally perform too much slow, easy-as-you-go aerobic exercise and not enough strength training. A fitness program of 10 minutes of low impact high intensity cardio once or twice a week, plus weight training twice a week, combined with a healthy diet, will encourage muscle growth, and that means a slimmer waistline!
A woman over 40 is losing body mass more than a 30-something female and so she needs to limit her exposure to high-intensity aerobic activity to about twice a week. Too much exercise at this time of our lives is just unnecessary stress on the body, causing cortisol levels to rise, metabolism to slow and the body then tries to hold onto fat reserves to cope with the exercise demands placed on it.
Exercise needs to stimulate our bones, muscles, brains and hearts to elicit a change. It does not need to leave us in a sweaty heap on the floor, unable to move. Yes, we need to push it a bit, but not too much and not for too long.
You can expect to get some muscle definition but there is absolutely no way on earth women can naturally bulk up to the extent of a male bodybuilder – those men (and women) who are ripped are doing more than just lifting weights. And, lifting light weights will NOT be adequate to enhance muscle growth and burn unwanted fat.
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