Effective and Efficient Strength Training for Older Women

Pdc654

I'd like some help with choosing an effective and efficient strength training program. I have not done any regular consistent weight training for at least 25 years. When I did, it was mainly machines and dumbbells. I have never used barbells and feel a little intimidated by them, but would be willing to do it if it gets me the most "bang for my buck" so to speak.

A little about me. I will be 70 yr old next month and have lost about 85 lbs so far. I still have 25 or 30 more to go. I am 5' 3.5 " and currently 155 lbs...so still in the overweight range. Over the years, I have gained and lost weight several times and I know I lost muscle since I didn't do anything to maintain it. I was always good about doing cardio but never really cared for strength training so that got neglected.

My goals are to maintain the muscle I still have and hopefully eventually regain as much of the muscle I have lost as possible.
I also want to maintain/ improve my bone density. I was recently put on bone density medication for osteopenia. I do not want it to
progress to osteoporosis.

I am currently eating around 90-95 grams of protein a day. Should I increase it?

I have access to a gym ( YMCA) and I also have a few kettlebells at home...5 lb, 10 lb, & 20 lb. More could be purchased.

How do you think I should start? I plan to start slow and gradually work up to 3 times a week. Is strong lifts a good program for me? I welcome all suggestions. Thank you.

middlehaitch

Start slow like you said. That means a barbell is in your future, work up to it. I say that as it doesn’t look as though you have done much strength training recently.

For me, close to 70, I like the AllPro programme. It is more complex to start with than a 5x5 or 5x3 linear programme but I personally find it a lot more forgiving.
You don’t have to be progressing your weights as fast, instead you progress reps.
Weights are progressed every 5 weeks.
The other nice thing is it has a heavy, medium, and light day each week.

It is a beginner’s programme but as all I am doing is retaining (very slowly building) muscle, and trying to keep my bone density (no probs yet)I haven’t found a need to change it. A bit of a comfort factor in there too.

I have been working this programme for years, with time off when travelling, working on house and garden projects etc.

I didn’t start with this programme. I started with very simple Hasfit (YouTube) beginner body weight and dumbbell programmes and progresses to AllPro.

Best thing to do is start with where you are and work your way to where you want to be.

There is a great thread in the stickies ‘Which Lifting Program is Best For You’ or similar, which gives a whole range of programmes from entry level to advanced. Have a read through that and start with what you can do now.

Cheers, h.

Pdc654

Thank you, @middlehaitch . I'll look into AllPro

CeeBeeSlim

Hi. I found this on YouTube. Hope it helps or has some ideas you can use!

https://youtu.be/oAHwQJLFy6w

Pdc654

@CeeBeeSlim. Thank you!

ninerbuff

If you can, get an assessment by a certified trainer. If they are good, they can tell you your strengths and weaknesses and if you do a couple of sessions with them, you get likely get a program to do for a month or so to get your body reacclimated to exercise.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Pdc654

Thank you @ninerbuff. I don't know anything about the trainers at the Y. I'll ask around and see if I can get a good recommendation. I'm afraid if I just ask the front desk I would just be assigned to someone with a lot of vacancy in their schedule which may or may not be a good fit.

Pdc654

Pdc654 wrote: »

I'd like some help with choosing an effective and efficient strength training program. I have not done any regular consistent weight training for at least 25 years. When I did, it was mainly machines and dumbbells. I have never used barbells and feel a little intimidated by them, but would be willing to do it if it gets me the most "bang for my buck" so to speak.

A little about me. I will be 70 yr old next month and have lost about 85 lbs so far. I still have 25 or 30 more to go. I am 5' 3.5 " and currently 155 lbs...so still in the overweight range. Over the years, I have gained and lost weight several times and I know I lost muscle since I didn't do anything to maintain it. I was always good about doing cardio but never really cared for strength training so that got neglected.

My goals are to maintain the muscle I still have and hopefully eventually regain as much of the muscle I have lost as possible.
I also want to maintain/ improve my bone density. I was recently put on bone density medication for osteopenia. I do not want it to
progress to osteoporosis.

I am currently eating around 90-95 grams of protein a day. Should I increase it?

I have access to a gym ( YMCA) and I also have a few kettlebells at home...5 lb, 10 lb, & 20 lb. More could be purchased.

How do you think I should start? I plan to start slow and gradually work up to 3 times a week. Is strong lifts a good program for me? I welcome all suggestions. Thank you.

I want to thank everyone who commented on my above post. I decided the best plan was to get the advice of a personal trainer. Last week we did an evaluation and today was our first session. I decided to pay for an introductory package which includes 3 personal training sessions. She has put me on a machine based full body workout to start 3 times a week. She thought the machines were best for now considering I have not done any strength training for years. As I progress she will change it up and add in dumbbells and maybe barbells later. I can space out the sessions however I like so I think I'll work with the program she gave me for a few weeks then we can have another session to re-evaluate. Thanks for all your input.

AnnPT77

If you feel up to it, maybe come back to the thread after some weeks/months and let us know how it goes? Thinking perhaps others can learn from your experience, whether it turns out to be positive (as I hope!), negative, or a mix.

I've really gotten a lot out of other people's posts that are kind of a "travelogue" about their eating or fitness strategies.

Thanks for considering!

Pdc654

AnnPT77 wrote: »

If you feel up to it, maybe come back to the thread after some weeks/months and let us know how it goes? Thinking perhaps others can learn from your experience, whether it turns out to be positive (as I hope!), negative, or a mix.

I've really gotten a lot out of other people's posts that are kind of a "travelogue" about their eating or fitness strategies.

Thanks for considering!

Yes @AnnPT77 I will definitely do that. I agree that other people's posts and experiences have helped me along the way as well.

Pdc654

Oh, I forgot to mention that the trainer did suggest I increase my protein somewhat. She suggested increasing to a minimum of 100 grams of protein a day. I have added in Greek yogurt most days a week. She suggested Oikos which has 15 grams of protein per container.

AnnPT77

Pdc654 wrote: »

Oh, I forgot to mention that the trainer did suggest I increase my protein somewhat. She suggested increasing to a minimum of 100 grams of protein a day. I have added in Greek yogurt most days a week. She suggested Oikos which has 15 grams of protein per container.

There's so much lately suggesting that we need more protein as we age, and that it becomes more important to space it through the day when older (rather than super-loading in one meal). I think you're on one of the threads where I posted this already, but this is a great summary in case others may see it here:

https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext

Pdc654

@AnnPT77 I do remember that you had posted about the need for increased protein as we get older. Thank you for reposting the link here. I have been trying to space out my protein intake throughout the day. It certainly is worth repeating for others that may see this.

Pdc654

I thought I'd post an update since it's been a couple months since my last post. As I mentioned above I purchased an introductory package of 3 personal training sessions. I'm allowed to spread these 3 sessions out however I like so long as I use them within a year. I would recommend doing this if at all possible for anyone new to strength training or anyone like me that's been away from it for a long time. The trainer is having me start with 3 full body machine based workouts a week. I have been doing pretty good with keeping up with this schedule but I did miss 2 weeks while on
vacation. I have noticed a couple things during this time... One, I was able to increase my weights fairly rapidly, at first it was practically every time, now slowing down to maybe increasingly some every week, others every other week. That's probably what I've heard mentioned as "newbie gains" but was still a surprise for this 70 year old lady. Two...I noticed sometimes I did better on the days when I had 2 days of recovery instead of one between lifting sessions. Something to consider as I progress. I'll see if this continues and talk to my trainer about it if it does. Although after the two weeks off for vacation I did have to drop back on the weights a bit on some of the exercises...so 2 weeks is too much time off I guess. Lol. But within a week I was back up to where I had left off before vacation so I didn't regress too much.

I had my second personal training session this week and some of my exercises changed to dumbells instead of machines. Still doing full body 3 times a week right now.

We also did another In-body scan. I realize the accuracy of in-body scans is to be taken with a grain of salt but it did show an increase of 0.9 lb in lean body mass in 7 weeks. Now I realize that is probably not a gain of a pound of muscle but more likely fluctuation in water weight but maybe a tiny bit of it is muscle. Would like to hope so anyway.

AnnPT77

Thank you for the update @Pdc654: It sounds like you picked a smart route, and that things are going really well for you! It's a great example for us that you're paying attention to your results and how you feel, too.

I'm glad that you are seeing satisfying gains: Strength gains can come pretty fast at first as you've discovered, and that's so rewarding (not to mention useful in daily life). Largely, that's from "neuromuscular adaptation" (NMA), basically better recruiting and using existing muscle fibers (though I'm not saying there's zero mass gain, just that most of the visible strength would be expected to be NMA). Mass gain will be slower than NMA for most everyone.

A calorie deficit is a bit of limitation on mass gains, but getting good overall nutrition, especially adequate protein, will help. For us at 60+, there's some decent evidence that protein timing is more important than for younger people, so it's good to spread it through the day, a good chunk in each meal. This is really useful info, IMO:

https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext

I don't have a cite for it, but there's also ample evidence that we can add muscle mass at our age, with a good program and consistent practice. It sounds like your trainer is taking a good approach. For seniors new to training, I like that idea of starting with machines, then gradually moving to free weights.

For myself, I do find that 3 times a week is more challenging for recovery than 2 times, but of course there's a tradeoff there. It helps me to pay attention to aaallllll the other aspects of recovery: Sleep, stress management, good nutrition, moderate calorie deficit (if any), interplay of strength exercise with other exercise (especially more-intense exercise), etc. I also find - echoing @middlehaitch here - that it can help to progress reps before progressing weights, in terms of recovery.

I admit, though, I'm not very knowledgeable about strength training per se: I took a group class (monitored individual workouts with instruction to introduce new exercises, not a choreographed "everybody do this for 8 reps" kind of thing - more like a group version of personal training). Now, I don't follow a formal program, because it doesn't play well with my other exercise (rowing, which is higher priority to me). I just bumble along, focusing on a subset of strength exercises I need to complement the rowing.

It sounds like you're doing very, very well. Thanks for the update: So encouraging, as inspiration. I'm wishing you excellent progress going forward! Go, you!

Pdc654

Thanks @AnnPT77 . I will continue to post updates on my progress every few weeks in hopes that it could help others in the 60+ age range and get also to get additional advice from others more experienced than I.

My goal right now is to keep as much muscle as possible while I am still in a calorie deficit. I still have around 15-20 lbs more to lose I think. After I switch to maintenance I'll try to focus more on rebuilding the muscle I have lost over years of yo-yo dieting. I know this will be a very slow process but I think having a
goal like this will help keep me focused.

I want to do everything I can to be as healthy and active as possible as I age. As you have mentioned before, it's about
doing what we can to have the best quality of life possible.

AnnPT77

Pdc654 wrote: »

Thanks @AnnPT77 . I will continue to post updates on my progress every few weeks in hopes that it could help others in the 60+ age range and get also to get additional advice from others more experienced than I.

My goal right now is to keep as much muscle as possible while I am still in a calorie deficit. I still have around 15-20 lbs more to lose I think. After I switch to maintenance I'll try to focus more on rebuilding the muscle I have lost over years of yo-yo dieting. I know this will be a very slow process but I think having a
goal like this will help keep me focused.

I want to do everything I can to be as healthy and active as possible as I age. As you have mentioned before, it's about
doing what we can to have the best quality of life possible.

I think that will be really wonderful and useful!

I feel like some in our demographic have been sold a popular-culture image of aging that includes relatively low expectations. Of course there are certain physical challenges that are more common as we age, but IMO it makes sense to me to pursue self improvements (like fitness or healthy weight) with an open mind, and see what we individually are capable of achieving, rather than adopting those cultural assumptions by default. It's a good plan to apply common sense, moderation, and patience: That would be better at any age, but - speaking for myself only - I could get away with stupidities or excesses at 20 that would have worse consequences now.

I look forward to your future updates!

Pdc654

I agree @AnnPT77 . Common sense, moderation, and patience.

I should have also mentioned another goal I have....Avoid injury. So important as we get older. You are right- we don't bounce back from over doing or injuries as easily as we did when we were younger.

Pdc654

I met with my trainer today for the final session of my introductory package. We concentrated on Ball Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, DB Row, Steps ups using dumbells, with variations of step ups with front raises, stepups with side raises, and glute bridges. She really concentrated on getting me to use good form with either no weights or light weights. I will add more weight after I get the form down. I'm still to do my machines but either replace some with these exercises, or, what I will probably do, is do machines on one of my training days and dumbbell stuff on the next and alternate, making sure I'm still doing a full body workout each time. Still doing 3 days a week.

Also, she wants me to come talk to her weight loss support group next Thursday. She has several participants that do not believe they can lose weight because they are too old. She thought having someone my age (70) who has lost a substantial amount of weight (100 lbs) would be motivational. I would have done it for nothing but they are giving me a free personal training session! So actually this wasn't my final session with her. I'll have one more!

ninerbuff

This is great! The majority of my clients are 45 and over with a few in their 70's+. With all of them I do full body workouts each time and make sure they have at least 2 days in between each training session. We do a mixture of free weights, machines, TRX and body weight.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Pdc654

Thanks @ninerbuff. My goal is to work on a progressive training program while avoiding injury and I value your opinion here.

Pdc654

I have not posted here in a while. Middle of January I got Covid, then Covid rebound. While the Covid infection itself wasn't too bad ( no hospitalization, and it did not effect my lungs, which was my greatest fear since I have asthma and mild COPD), I did have some longer term after-effects, including daily headaches, and very low energy levels for several weeks afterwards. I was not able to exercise, and especially not lift weights for quite a while. I was just getting started back into my routine when I got hit with a bad case of bronchitis. I was out of the gym for another 3 weeks. Therefore, I have been rather inconsistent with my training and had to cut back quite a bit on my weights. I pretty much had to start over. That's life. But now I'm almost back to where I was.

Today I had my final session with my personal trainer. I was wanting her to show me some Barbell exercises. Specifically bench press, deadlifts, Squats, rows, overhead press. I could tell when I first talked to her a couple weeks ago about it, she had some hesitations. I told her I knew I wasn't ready for barbells yet but wanted to get the form down since it was our last session together. Well long story short, I wasn't even ready to learn the basics yet because on the bench I was having trouble just keeping the bar stable to enable me to do the press. I don't think it was that my chest muscles weren't strong enough, I think it was that my stabilizer muscles were not, so I was wobbling a lot with it. We are going to postpone the Barbell work a while longer, and I will continue with the dumbbells and machines. Maybe I'll pay for another session in a few months when I think I'm really ready.

On another note, she wants me to increase my protein to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, since I've reached my goal weight and starting to increase my calories now for maintenance. That would be 125 grams! Seems a lot to me, but I was already at 105-110, so really it's only one cup of Greek yogurt to get to that goal. And...she wants me to increase my weights and use a 8-10 rep range. I had been going up to 12 reps before I increased my weights, so now I'll increase them once I can do 10 reps.

Hopefully I don't have anymore set backs for a while, and can make some good progression with my lifting.

AnnPT77

If the weight is a problem for you, with good form . . . there are shorter/lighter bars (depending on what you're using now), or even working with a dowel/broomstick to understand and practice the form, even if that weight doesn't create enough useful stress. Alternatively, many exercise can be done pretty close to the same way with dumbbells, giving you more flexibility with total weight load.

I used to do Chinese martial arts, specifically Tai Chi and some types of traditional kung fu (Taiwanese lineage). There's a saying there, "invest in loss". It's complicated, but the core idea is that you may need to do some not-optimal things on the path to optimality. I'd put practicing strength training form at minimal weight in that category, sometimes.

Pdc654

@AnnPT77. Yes, we did go try out the lighter bars, and I do think I will practice with them for form. They have a lot of those at the Y, starting at 20 lbs all the way up to very heavy. I wasn't sure how heavy they went up to, but I did see a 90 lb one. So I do have choices. All of this was in a part of the gym I don't usually go to. A little intimidating but also kinda interesting.