To think some women could lift heavier in the gym?

[Ilostallthepens]

I go to a strength training class a few times a week. It’s almost always all women, class size is about 15. I’m not especially strong or experienced at lifting weights but I notice I’m always lifting the heaviest (sometimes by a long way) than every other person there. I’m also working to my maximum capacity for the 8-12 reps we’re doing. I’m huffing and puffing and sweating doing bicep curls with an 8kg dumbbell in each hand and I look over and the woman next to me is lifting a couple of 2kg dumbbells with no visible effort at all. I see this in a lot of the women there. They don’t seem to push themselves to their limit or even that close to it. I’m talking about women a similar age to myself that have been going to the gym for at least as long as me. I get some people may not want to push themselves to their max effort for whatever reason, eg. an injury, but I’m seeing lots of women seemingly not putting in half the amount of effort that they seem capable of and over a long period of time. So this makes me think the reason must be they don’t believe they are capable of lifting heavier, or they don’t want to lift to their max ability for some reason. Why do you think this is? Have you experienced this? Do you not work to max capacity in the gym? If not, why not?

My mum has always been incredibly strong, balanced and supple becuase of daily yoga. She has never set foot in a gym in her life or lifted weights (apart from being able to lift heavy things around the house quite easily that no one else in the house can do)

She's too old and ill now unfortunately to carry it on but in her late 80s she has only fallen over once when she was shopping with me about 10 years ago. Thank you Home Bargains for your terrible layout!!

These stories about fit and healthy elderly parents are great. I’m glad to hear it. But as evidence that you don’t need to do any strength training, they are just anecdotal. Like the “my gran smoked 40 a day for 70 years and died peacefully in her sleep at 102, so I don’t believe smoking is bad for you”. Lovely stories, but just that, stories.

Let me tell you my story. 18 months ago, I could hardly get up and down stairs because of arthritis in my knees. After 18 months of guided and consistent strength training, I am now pain-free and doing all sorts of things like box jumping, running, spin classes, lifting heavy and positively running up and down stairs. I will advocate for strength training till I am blue in the face.

I don’t understand this, not being facetious, I have cognitive issues. Are you being sarcastic? Please could you précis in layperson terms? I am disabled with muscles and bone affected so would like to understand

Clearly some women on this thread have seen incredible transformations to their physique and physical abilities due to heavy lifting. That’s great and I am very happy for you.

However it’s always presented as if there is no downside, but in order to avoid injury you need a strong core and excellent form, particularly as you increase weights significantly. I agree that I would likely get more muscle through weightlifting than from my regular Bodypump class, but having a recurring neck/shoulder injury and a fairly weak core means I am nervous of doing anything that may stop me exercising for months and causing pain,plus I enjoy what I do currently and have seen some modest improvements.

However this thread has done some good. I was coasting in my Bodypump class so this morning I upped the weights for a few tracks. Meant I had to miss a few reps but that’s overall still improvement, so thank you I guess to the judgy OP.

Being active in life definitely confers benefits in later life. But PP is right that the specific benefits for bone density are related to lifting heavy weights rather than Pilates or walking.

All of the women on the paternal side of my family developed osteoporosis in later life. All of these women without exception lead healthy, active lives. They all walked loads, rode bikes, did lots of gardening etc. But none of them lifted heavy weights. They all developed osteoporosis in their 70s and all ended up with severely hunched posture (and daily pain, of course). Given the genetic patterns of the disease, I am lifting heavy weights in the hope that I will fare a bit better than my Grandma and my aunties. 🤞

Agree. I've just had three very close together back to back csections in the past 2 and a half years. And my first was very traumatic (baby twins didn't make it out of the NICU) I'm planning to get back training but my body just isn't the same and tbh training is more for my mental health too. Even just getting dressed into gym gear, moving and being out with other people is a goal for me. I've been lucky to have two children since they died but losing my twins the way I did has impacted me. The thought that strangers in a class or gym might judge me for not trying hard enough freaks me out. I already feel self conscious enough about my postpartum body. I wont be using heavy weights or dripping with sweat coming out but what it does for me is lowers my anxiety, and stress, I feel happier, and cry less some days. That's a win for me. I'd never look around and assume people aren't trying. No one in the classes or gyms that I've gone to in the past two and a half years know about my twin boys or what happened. So how the Op can assume that everyone in her class all have the same goals is beyond me. I'd just hope other people would be too focused on their own training to take notice of mine.

Box jumping...

Say goodbye to your good knees in the future.

I'm not sure why it matters. That's what they want to do and you do what you want to do.

No not if you build up to it properly and learn to land softly. You’re jumping on a plyo box not a rigid box. And “bad knees” are often a consequence of weak muscles that are not supporting the joint adequately.

Comments like this really don’t help either.

yes any sort of physical activity will pose some injury risk but on the whole the benefits will outweigh the risks.

it often seems whatever exercise people
say they do it’s met by some with “buts” rather than support.

Why do an exercise that may or may not have benefits that outweigh the risks? It seems to me a foolish risk to take.

This is a specific activity, not any old activity.

But by all means enjoy springing about now. May be less enjoyable later.

I meant she has good knees now.

Exactly. A whole load of excuses why they can’t instead of looking to see what they can do.

Box jumps aren’t for everyone, but plyonetric exercises are very beneficial, especially for women as they age. If anyone is interested in learning more about the types of exercises women should be doing as they age, Dr Stacy Sims has some very interesting interviews on YouTube.

The bottom line is it’s up to the individual how they exercise, if at all. We can mitigate risk as we age, but our bodies wear out over time. Women especially experience a sharp drop in physical performance due to menopause. It’s up to the individual what they choose to do about it.

There is nothing like unnecessarily injuring your joints to cause them to wear out prematurely and leave you in hideous chronic pain, and often ultimately requiring TKRs that may or may not leave you better off.

Im doing it to strengthen my knees - did you read my post?

I only started lifting weights in my 60s . I had always been active but no weights. I had no injuries or osteoporosis but I was desperately nervous of getting injured. I was very slow to increase the weights but the coach was extremely encouraging and bit by bit l went up with constant supervision. I was amazed what l could do and l feel the benefit generally in life tasks. I never pay any attention to what other women are doing but l know for me l just believed l couldn't do it and l would have really missed out if the coach hadn't kept a close eye on me. So l get OP what you are saying: if proper coaching was available we would benefit more by lifting more in a safe way.

I’m doing it properly, under the close supervision of a highly qualified PT as part of a programme specifically designed to future proof my knees. I think I’ll take her word on this. My arthritis consultant also tells me it’s vital to keep moving.

Jumping is proven to improve bone density and improve muscle strength as well as balance and agility. All vital as we get older.

And as a pp said, done properly with correct technique it’s a lot less risky.

As I said, speaking as someone who experienced a lot of pain from arthritis (and I’m 58 now) and now can run and box Jump, I’m sticking with what I know is working for me.

I like doing sport (endurance) and I find Stacy Sims views on what women should be doing a doomer honestly. It's very restrictive. And yes I do lift weights. But there's so much more for a joyful active life.

People like OP are reason some people hate the gym. Quit judging everyone else and concentrate on your own workout.

This is exactly why I will never set foot in a gym! Everybody always says “nobody cares what you’re doing, they’re just focused on their own workout” but we know that’s not true.

Box jumping is pretty good for knees if technique is good. Also stepping (rather than jumping) down from the box after the jump.

Where problems arise is with poor technique/unsuitable footwear/overdoing it/trying to jump too high without enough training/not warming up properly/not stretching properly afterwards (same could be said for all types of exercise really).

If people don’t want to jump, don’t jump. But no need to criticise someone for doing it if they have been trained to do it properly and are being well-supervised.

Agreed. I’m not living any weights at all 😂

Yes, quite.

I know so many women my age (mid 40s) who are going all in at the gym.

Me and my nerve damage and incredibly painful steroid injections into my spine just sit back and wince.

I am worse off than before I set foot in one. My back surgeon and physio both told me that a lot of their patients are women who started going to the gym and doing weights for their strength in their 40s and ended up wrecking their bodies in the process.

My physio said just walk for a couple of hours a day.

ETA I did be have a PT with me. I think I said upthread (I’m off my face on painkillers and not sleeping so can’t keep up with myself), it was just one, slight wrong move that fucked me up.

Some might have long term injuries or be recovering from surgery. You don’t know.

I’ve got a long term injury which impacts my ability to lift heavy weights or do certain exercises. I’m about to have surgery and full recovery can be up to 12 months. You wouldn’t know any of this to look at me and would probably assume I’m not pushing myself.

Those who say they will never go to a gym because they worry about being judged (and then try to blame this directly on strangers on the internet) are missing out. If you allow strangers’ opinions to alter your behaviour in this way then sadly you’re the only one who loses- it’s your health and fitness, no one else’s.

ALL of us started out as beginners. All of us probably got judged. But the great thing is that you can still go to the gym and improve your health and fitness anyway, whether you’re being judged or not. 🤷🏼‍♀️ So the choice is yours as to whether you want the benefits or not.