Everyone keeps saying I should lift?

[chowmeinz]

Any advice? Peri menopausal, almost 50, recently lost 6 stone on Mounjaro with a few stone left to go. I’m just at the stage now where I feel able to do something a bit more physical than walking and I keep reading how important weights are. Is this true?

My diet is really good, I don't take protein shakes etc or use supplements though I just get it all from food.

The other thing someone pointed out recently, & I think it was on MN, was that maintaining bone density means you’re less likely to shrink with age. And at 4’11 I can’t afford to shrink!

Weights - best thing ever and really helped me feel/look physically fitter . Lots of evidence too around importance.

You don't have to lift but it's fun. Bodyweight stuff, resistance bands, cable machines, all sorts of fun stuff.

Lots of other ways to build strength, which is as you say, very important. Weave it into your day...

I'm in my 50s and about to go off and do an S & C course...will be nice to get training again, after a diversion into other stuff recently.

One thing I will say is that I'm pretty heavy atm and still smaller than when I was fat, fat, if that makes sense?

I’m in my 50s, I have just started having PT sessions, I’m doing resistance training with light weights and interval training on the rowing machine. Early days but I’m really enjoying it

Edited to add I also do yoga and Pilates

This too. Every inch is sacred, and I'm already seeing far too much of my teenager's nasal hair as he gloats down on me. At least he seems to have tall DH's genes in the mix.

The women in my family max out at 5'1"-5'2" and then shrink into tiny little old ladies by their 70s as they lose several inches.

I don't want to be a shrunken, little old lady of 4'something, I want to be a kick-ass old lady

@lljkk we lose muscle mass as we age and it's a major factor in frailty in old age. Strength training - in can be body weight exercises, doesn't have to involve lifting actual weights - builds muscle and is really beneficial for women as it helps build bone density. You don't have e to spend hours doing it either. Give it a go instead of dissing those of us who advocate it as being in an echo chamber.

Yeah - it really changes your shape.

Yep, google sarcopenia and think deeply about how you want your last decade to look...I can see my last decade in front of me, as my DM is there and we have very similar genetics.

I'm obsessed with strength training! I've been doing it seriously since the beginning of the year. I'm now bench pressing 30kg for 4 sets of 8, and can deadlift my body weight of 55kg.
I eat a high protein diet which had made me look the most toned I've been in my life.
My mum - 73 - has had a couple of minor injuries in the past few years, and because she has zero strength, she's not had any physical resilience and has literally melted infront of my eyes - she's so weak, she's starting to crumple. I was determined to have 30 years of strength training behind me by her age.

I’m in my 70s and very fit - mostly thanks to weight and resistance training.

if you do nothing else, do this:

• daily plank - try the Bowflex 3-minute plank
• work out with dumbbells at least 2-3 times a week; start with 3kg and work your way up - PT initially to ensure good form, but there are lots of workouts on YouTube: Fitness Blender, Growingannanas, Heather Robertson, Caroline Girvan.
• consider walking with a weighted vest and/or ankle and wrist weights.

I realise it’s a cliche, but your future self will thank you!

I am so sorry, but your mum’s situation is not unusual - very sad. I watched my own mother get increasingly frail as she aged. Other than being unfit there was nothing wrong with her and she lived to be 89. However, the last 16 months of her life were miserable . She fell and broke her hip. Even though her hip was fixed, she never walked again - she simply didn’t have the strength. Wasted away in a nursing home - it was horrible.

Yes my mum is otherwise healthy, and her mind is great. But she's never done a minute of formal exercise in her life, and has always been someone to drive to the corner shop instead of walk. She thinks she's 'active' because she pops here and there a few times a week - but it's all in the car.
My dad, on the other hand (no longer with my mum) has maintained a weights and fitness routine for his entire life - including through treatment for prostate cancer - and is still working through choice and very fit and active at 75.

I don't lift heavy weights but I run 3-4 times a week and do one bootcamp style class which is usually bodyweight (and let's face it, your body is heavy!) but sometimes tyres or weights.

I also have a pilates app (Pilates for Runners) which also has some strength routines on it.

As well as the usually-recommended Caroline Girvan you could also look at Caroline Idiens or Own Your Menopause.

And walk instead of using the car (or cycle) whenever you can.

the importance of strength training is endorsed by doctors, physios, PT’s, and the fitness community at large. It’s particularly important for peri and menopausal women to retain muscle and help bone density

Lifting weights is listed as a strength exercise even on the NHS website fgs, and we know how slow they are to update their info.

Here

Lifting weights is so fun! If you can afford a few sessions I would definitely get a PT to show you the ropes and how to lift safely. I would also recommend asking to learn how to use kettlebells too as they're so versatile that if you got one for home, you could do home workouts if you don't want to join a gym. And don't be scared of male PT's - the best ones I've had were male and taught me so much!

My GP referred me to an exercise physiologist as part of my cholesterol management program and weight lifting was a major part of that. I really notice the difference with my body strength and recently got myself a barbell to complement my home dumbbells. I can deadlift 42 kilos now.

Best thing I’ve ever done, have never felt better and in my 50’s am back to wearing sleeveless dresses.

Hi OP. I am ever thankful that I started weights in my mid 30s with a PT.

I absolutely love it. I only do it in my garage at home and my heaviest weights are 12kg kettlebell and 8kg dumbells. I also have TRx straps, mini bands and other bits for stretching like a mini pilates ball, magic ring, yoga blocks and a wedge block for my achilles.

I've been using bodyfit by amy for about 6yrs. Joining a gym wasn't an option for a few years and now I don't think I could go back.

I have prolapses and have worked with physio to check the best way of exercising without coming to any harm.

My arms look brilliant in sleeveless tops, I'm strong and energetic.

Oh and @lljkk my asthma nurse who is about to retire, checked I was doing weight bearing exercise for my bone density.

What’s your beef with weightlifting? Lots of people enjoy it and it’s good for you.

Is everyone here lifting heavy?

I used to, but I cannot get my appetite under control if I do that. And it doesn't cancel out. I've been working out for years and still gained weight. It was mostly but after being on antidepressant medication for bloody years - so it is coming off slowly as I no longer take them.

But I would be nervous of trying to lift heavy again because I do not want that appetite increase.

I do light stuff like Body Pump with light weights. I work out at home so I'm just giving body pump as an example of the type of thing I do.

I also really don't want to go back to the gym. I don't have anything like the space to do proper weights at home.

I used to really like the gym environment, but now I hate it. Funny how we change.

@EmeraldRoulette I really want to lift heavy (I used to) but I have a small prolapse now so I’m wary.

I teach Pump 5x a week and Strength Development 2x which is a bit slower and heavier than Pump- but I don’t go super heavy in that because it’s my participants’ workout not mine, and I can’t be grunting and exhaling explosively while trying to coach them from the front of the room 😂

@EmeraldRoulette - adjustable dumbbells + Caroline Girvan?

How heavy is heavy?

My heaviest weight is a 30kg barbell for deadlifts & my lightest is a 9kg dumbbell for tricep extensions - I move up to the next weight when I think I’m ready.