Is it essential to do weights in your 50s?

[dameofdilemma]

I keep reading (and being told) of the dangers of osteoporosis in menopausal women, importance of strengthening muscles etc.
Do I really really have to start doing weights?

Background is I run regularly (5k 5 times a week) and have done for decades. I also do regular Pilates (both reformer and mat). I’m 50, periods seem to have stopped but haven’t had any other MP symptoms yet.

Pre pandemic I used to go to the gym and did a little bit of weights but it bores me to tears.
Also my exercise window is around half an hour first thing in the morning and maybe 20 mins some evenings. Rest of time is filled with work, childcare, etc.

Is it inevitable that I’ll end up with injuries? Any other runners in their 50s do no weights (looks hopeful…)

Can you start with smaller weights?There are ones you can get to wear on your wrists that are 0.5kg. Then up to 1kg, and so on.

And look for a new PT even for a few sessions? A woman might be a better bet.

I enjoy the strength workouts on the FIIT app and I think some are 25 minutes.

OK, interesting.

Don't do body pump - low weights, high reps done at speed - I don't think that will be good for you with the niggles you are carrying. I would stick with Pilates for now and, if and when you can and your niggles are sorted, include some more strength training, but slow, controlled low reps, high load.

Shoulder impingement - get physio and do not lift overhead until sorted. I have permanent shoulder injury (full and partial thickness RC tears) and never feel it now, through first physio and strength training.

Wrists - likewise, ask physio. But there are workarounds that will help you build strength while being easier on the wrists, eg using parallettes for push ups.

Squats and lunges are great leg exercises.

Thanks Frog!

Quite apart from the health benefits, serious strength training has made me a much, much better runner. That might make it appeal a little more?

you probably should get a physio assessment of your upper limbs tbh,if you are having these issues at 50 you'd be better tacking the root causes now rather than later on.,,,has your pain got worse since going through peri-menopause?

Oh I would please. Am on soo so can't Dm but will get on laptop soon

Yup did see a physio, who was v helpful and he advised no or v low weights for upper body and some stretching exercises (which I've been doing since and really help). Also changed my computer mouse hand to the left.
Also have had some deep tissue massages with a specialist which helps for a bit.

As long as I'm spending a lot of time at a desk, on a keyboard etc though it won't go away but is definitely less painful.

Ideally I'd like to do a TRX band class - used to do these years ago and really enjoyed them.

Could someone please link to studies that show the additional benefits (osteoporosis? muscle gain? fewer falls? lower mortality?) for age 50+ women who do cardio+weights as opposed to just cardio ? Ideally I'd like an RCT, but satisfied if there is a large well-designed observational design.

@MedSchoolRat if I'm looking for the evidence base for lifting stuff, my go to is barbell medicine. They're lifters and medics who do reviews of all sorts. I don't know if they have done one of what you're looking for, although I'd be surprised if they hadn't.

thanks RK. I can only see opinion pieces on their website.

No

@MedSchoolRat , as you know, it is hard to do good RCTs of lifestyle interventions. Here is a summary of some of the evidence, however, with links to some RCTs. www.nia.nih.gov/news/how-can-strength-training-build-healthier-bodies-we-age

@MedSchoolRat weird - I usually listen to the podcasts. They review research papers and the citations are provided.

OP you sound similar to me, I run 35 - 45km a week, but always carry a weight now and I really notice the difference if I stop.

I do 1hr 1 Pilates every week too and that helps my core.

what I’ve added to round off my body balance is 12 x push up, 12 x tricep dips, 3 x sets of sits ups daily. It takes a few minutes after my shower (I can’t face it before). I started doing 3 daily and very very slowly built up. It’s made a real difference to my arm strength.

I can’t see the need for more weight than my own body.

I’m also 50, but take HRT

Thanks Martini.
I was really interested in the added benefit aspect. For someone like OP, what is the likely additional benefit of adding resistance / weights to the exercise routine she already has. Does that additional benefit put resistance/weights into the "essential" category, although then have to identify "essential" for ... what. OP would have to decide what is enough benefit to make it essential.

Anyway, that link you gave, the RCTs I found on it recruited:

1. age 65+ & obese . "All participants had to have mild-to-moderate frailty." Unlikely OP is obese or frail.
2. Mobility limited & age 70-85. OP is neither.
3. INVEST study (wearing weighted vests) sounds cool, they are age 60-85 living with obesity or have a clinical risk factor for obesity. Doesn't seem like OP.
4. LIMB-Q trial... targets obese & sedentary age 65-85 adults (OP is none of those)

For a moment I thought this article was about the evidence I'm trying to find, but then it says about weights & cardio ... “The interesting part of this study is that while people who both lifted weights and did aerobics had the highest decrease in mortality risk, aerobic exercise seemed to be the primary driver of this effect,” Candy said.

“These findings indicate that both weightlifting and aerobic exercise are good for preventing mortality, [but] there’s no interaction effect between the two,” Candy added. “It’s not a situation of ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.’ In this case, the net effect of doing both exercises is exactly the sum of doing each type of exercise individually.”

That's only for mortality outcome, tbf.

Yes, I understand. I think you need to do a full lit search. Here is a review from 2003 you might be able to follow forward from. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14552938/.

I think for most people though, the fact that the NHS and WHO recommend strength based activities at least twice a week is a good enough basis to proceed on 😀💪.

well I am shocked... unless I did a full systematic search, which I'm not because to do it properly but unpaid is obsessive, there is no trial evidence to answer OP's question. Every single sodding study seems to be about vulnerable people. typically with diabetes, prediabetes, obesity, frailty, sedentary lifestyle (if not all those problems)

The essay Martini linked to is opinion The authors found studies that say with what they already believed.... and their study selection criteria is always change compared to people who didn't exercise at all (says so in Table 1, far right column). For someone like OP, though, who knows what benefits might be.

I fear the trials I would like to see literally do not exist. So then we're back to observational studies. Any suggestions what search terms I put in Pubmed to quickly find what may exist?

Did that help with your core too?

@Pureradio what the press ups and stuff?

Yes it's important to move your body

There is no real benefit to using 2kg IMO

Depends what exercise you're doing and if you are doing lots of light reps as opposed to a few heavier ones. Lat raises with 2kg weights would be challenging for many people.

I have no idea, but I suspect you will have difficulty finding much.

www.strongerbyscience.com/representation/