To want to know about strength training

[Missedthis]

For over 50 women.

What do you do? How do you fit it into a busy work/life schedule?

I’m becoming more aware of feeling like I’d really hurt myself if I fel over (and I’m super clumsy so the fear is real). I want to get stronger so I don’t snap 😂

Join a class, make the time.

What kind of class? There’s a baffling array - every time I look I’m clueless 😂

How often is needed to make a difference?

The best thing I ever did! Started it at 52. Had no clue what I was doing so started with a PT one to one to get the form correct. I had back issues on and off so this was important.
I had zero flexibility or strength could barely do a body weight squat so it took a while of these sessions before I could join his very small strength training classes.
I go 3 times per week to the class. I think some people would start with a PT and then when confident join a gym and do it themselves. I like the classes with my PT as I am still learning and it's structured to me.
4 years ago I couldn't fo anything - ,now I can squat 50 kilos. I will never be a natural at it but it's made so much difference. Back pain rarely happens and if it does then it's OK within a day or so rather than 3 months. My body composition has changed (this is diet too) and I feel like this is the best thing I can do to protect myself and hopefully keep as mobile for as long as possible into old age.
I also walk too. Best thing I ever did - took me ages to pluck up the courage to go but I feel the fitter than I did at 30!

Not strength training, but always make sure you are able to get up from the floor without using your hands. Sounds easy but a lot of people can’t do it, and if you fall and hurt yourself, you might need to be able to do it.

I'm almost 50. A PureGym recently opened a <10 min walk from home. I signed up early to benefit from a 1/2 price membership and use the money saved to pay for a weekly PT. I'm fortunate that work pt otherwise I think I'd struggle more to go.
I'm slowly losing weight but I'm also slowly seeing changes in muscle tone. I hope I can keep it up.

I've started walking from the office to the station twice a week. I'll be allowed to do some home office after the holidays so am thinking I'll try to do some kind of body weight training st home. It's so boring though! And I never know if I'm doing it correctly/enough. I guess it's better than nothing 🤷‍♀️

I wouldn't know where to start when it comes to classes, I've looked a few times and I'm none the wiser!

Don't be an arse.

OP - I'm interested in your question.

@cramptramp

i really worry about this with a family member who I was shocked to discover could hardly get up from the floor, I thought she was joking! How could a person train to be able to get up without hands?

I found I was an early morning person and that reformer Pilates was the thing for me.

Also an early morning person ( although usually do some work, but this could change…maybe)

Is there a particular person/youtube/thing you use?

Buy some dumbbells, look at Caroline Girvan’s online programmes, she has one just for beginners, or something like Peloton/Les Mills. It’s intimidating sometimes for older women to walk into a gym and start lifting, but it’s so accessible and easy to get started at home. You can seek out a PT if you feel you want more guidance but you can start basic strength training very easily with just a few light dumbbells.

I do a 15 minute dumbbell workout from YouTube every day. It’s all I have time for and it’s easy to slot in somewhere. But I used to go to the gym pre-kids. If you’re brand new it’s worth taking a class first. I used to like Body Pump.

I suggest finding a PT at a gym or someone or someone who offers small group training.

With weights always good to have a professional to make sure your form is right.

Also you get a lengthy free trial on the Caroline Girvan app so you can give her Total Beginner programme a good go for free. If you don’t have weights then you can use tins of tomatoes or filled water bottles or whatever you have to get started.

Hi I do a 15 min kettle bell workout on youtube, is really hard! Also trying to do pressups at home as my upper body is so weak!

everyone enjoys different things but for me it’s body pump I go 2-3 times a week, yoga for flexibility and stretching and I run a few times a week as well. I generally get up early and do classes or run before work

Do it, aged 45 I was seriously overweight and I couldn’t get up off the floor.
I started 3 years ago and since then have lost a couple of stone, and got massively stronger and a lot more flexible.
I got a PT from a gym, who did my training plan and importantly showed me the correct form. I still have the PT as I enjoy it. I do one hourly sessions a week with him plus 3 on my own. I work FT and fit the exercise in after work. Think of it like an appointment, something you must go to. It’s been the best thing I’ve done!

Get one of those magic mirrors mentioned on another thread.

It’s in the Exercise section. Oddly enough.

I’ve joined a gym three months ago. I’ve never been to a gym in my life. I’m finding it surprising enjoyable. I row for fifteen minutes and then do other things for 10-15 minutes and then I’m done. I decided that if I made it a big hoo haa and went for an hour I pretty would not keep up with going.

I try to go both weekend days and a couple of days after work.

I can feel the change in my body. I know I’m stronger and I also ache far less.

Have a look at Sydney Cummings on YouTube. It’s free and she’s brilliant, she gives loads of advice on form and how to do it properly. I started off with some 1kg hand weights from Aldi a few years back. I’m now up to 30 kgs for some moves! I would also suggest you do it in front of a mirror. Feels a bit foolish but you can check your form. I do it most days before work, her workouts are usually 30-45 mins so not too difficult to fit in and it has changed my body completely.
It also does something magic to my metabolism. I usually eat very well but if I go off plan for a couple of weeks, for a holiday for example, I somehow don’t gain a single pound, as long as I train a couple of times a week?

I’m interested in this too OP because I keep seeing strength training mentioned here and there but I’ve literally never set foot in a gym and find the whole concept off putting! I’m not unfit, can run 10k in just over an hour and easily get up off the floor, is strength training really that important?

I've started Bodypump and Pilates at a local leisure centre and I'm feeling a lot stronger.

Yes, this. I tried to start weight training by myself and injured my wrist. Makes a huge difference to have someone watching and correcting your form.

I invested in a PT four years ago. I go once a week most weeks and I love her and it -- it combines stress relief (nothing quite like lifting heavy weights to relieve stress) with therapy so I rationalise the expense to myself as it's a 3-in-1. I have never ever stayed with consistent excercise like this (I am now 53). I am SO MUCH stronger and fitter and feel so much better. I have also lost 2 stone, but that was due to diet changes 2+ years after starting PT. It's NOT CHEAP but I figured it was the only way I was going to do something, prioritise it and stick with it. It's a commitment in my diary that very very rarely gets over-ridden. I would like to be doing more but I know myself well enough to know that unless I have someone standing over me making me do the hard things, I just won't.

Strength training is great for metabolic health because it can boost your metabolic rate so you burn more calories even when at rest as well as extra burn immediately post-workout.

Building and maintaining strength is really important as we get older generally so you’re definitely right to be thinking about it, OP. Good core strength and general body strength will really help with longevity and quality of life as you get older. There is an overwhelming amount of stuff out there so just pick something and get started. If you follow one of the beginner programmes, then they’re usually 3-4 times a week and will rotate different parts of body, so you might do an arms day, a leg day, a core day, etc.