Too old to weight lift

I started at 59 and 300 lbs. I do not accept excuses from anyone! Just take it in small steps!

sarnies wrote: »

Hi everyone, im wanting to start weight lifting at the ripe old age of 51, im a runner so used to gym work, the problem is that I stopped exercising last year and put on weight but now I'm getting back into it, I need to loss 14lb of flab to get back to 9st 4, my question is am i too old to start this and get good results

Oh, H**l no, you are not too old!

I thought I was a late starter at 42 years...look at you guys Amazing!

No. You’re not too old. I never lifted a weight in my life until I was 53. I only started when I was so weak (after illness) I couldn’t sit upright for more than about 20 mins. A year later, I’m stronger than I’ve been for 20 years or more.

I'm 58. Making solid gains. SL5X5 Starting Strength. Go for it!

rheddmobile wrote: »

I started at 49. The one thing I would say is that if you have been sedentary, progress slowly at first. Old tendons develop more slowly than old muscles and it's easy to get injured - I was told to never do anything that hurt, but my injuries never hurt at the time. I would be lifting something that felt fine and the next day have an injury. I learned the hard way! So go slow at first, until you have a base to work from.

This is important to remember. In my first year or so of working out, after losing 80 lbs and coming off two decades of inactivity, I injured myself A LOT, even though I was working with an attentive and intelligent trainer. But also be aware that consistency in the gym DOES pay off--be patient, don't give up, and slowly but surely you will get stronger and more resilient.

Never. I have clients in their 80's lifting weights.

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

I hope not. I see 70+ year olds pumping iron. Had a 60 something doing the burpee challenges earlier this year. (Do 5x the date of the month burpees each day, so 5 on the 1st, and 150 on the 30th...)

I'm almost 53 and get 3x week in the weight room and 3x week some cardio exercise, either stationary bike for Spin or HIIT training, or some actual time on the road bike.

Age is just a number, and those who have the most birthdays tend to live the longest

My dad is 76 and lifts weights every day. You can always gain muscle and help your bones. YOu don't have to lift heavy or anything

You're never too old - get that out of your head immediately!

There are people in my gym much older than you and there are people doing marathons way past your age.

You have to remember dumbbells in gyms are not the only form of lifting weights.

Weights can include anything from a can of beans to your own body weight.

Start low and make your way up - a personal trainer I think could really help you.

You can do it but you must think positively and have a 'can do' attitude.

Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »

No such thing as too old.

Well, I beg to differ.

While the OP and all of us who have posted to this thread are certainly not YET too old to lift but that's not the case for everyone.

There will probably come when your body just gives out due to old age; a time when you can't lift anything, let alone stand up to get out of a chair.

I saw it happen to my mother who couldn't live alone any longer because she couldn't get herself out of the bathtub at age 90.

When this physical deterioration happens varies widely person to person (based on differences in genetics, gender, past injuries, medical conditiond and other factors) but you will most often see it in seniors when they reach their 80's-90's.

It is a fact of life and will happen to most seniors eventually undoubtedly (at least in part) because most seniors do not exercise regularly.

Hopefully, all of us here will be the exception to this rule, because of our desire to maintain our health and weight by means of diet control and regular exercise, but there is no guarantee that our bodies will not fail us in old age too.

All we can do is continue to remain active and exercise as much as we can to hold off the ravages of old age but (like death) there really is nothing we can do can entirely prevent the physical detrioration that comes with old age.

No one has discovered the Fountain of Youth yet but please tell us 1st if you do.

I started lifting last year - at age 54. I am much stronger now than I have ever been (55 now), and the strength gains keep coming. I was a weak, lazy tub of goo well on my way to finding all the diseases, aches and pains that lazy tubs of goo find while being lazy tubs of goo. I had all kinds of excuses as to why I was looking and feeling that way.

Fast forward a year and I'm now within about a month (probably 2) of getting to my initial weight-lifting goals (that I honestly thought were unattainable at my age): performing 5-rep sets of 135 Overhead Press, 225 Bench Press, 315 Squat, 405 Dead Lift - basically 1 plate, 2 plates, 3 plates, and 4 plates for each of the basic compound lifts.

Bench is stalled temporarily at 215 with a sore shoulder, but all the others are moving. OHP is there, Squat is close, dead lift is close.

There has been no better choice I've ever made health-wise than getting under a bar. I started with only the bar. You don't have to go to the gym and lift heavy your first day. You just have to go and lift. Then rest. Then go back and add a small amount and do it again.

Not saying age doesn't have limitations. It does, primarily in recovery. So when recovery slowed, I backed off to two days week. And the strength and gains kept coming.

I'll be under a bar as long as my body will let me. And being under a bar now is extending the time that body will let me. No bigger fountain of youth.

sgt1372 wrote: »

Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »

No such thing as too old.

Well, I beg to differ.

While the OP and all of us who have posted to this thread are certainly not YET too old to lift but that's not the case for everyone.

There will probably come when your body just gives out due to old age; a time when you can't lift anything, let alone stand up to get out of a chair.

I saw it happen to my mother who couldn't live alone any longer because she couldn't get herself out of the bathtub at age 90.

When this physical deterioration happens varies widely person to person (based on differences in genetics, gender, past injuries, medical conditiond and other factors) but you will most often see it in seniors when they reach their 80's-90's.

It is a fact of life and will happen to most seniors eventually undoubtedly (at least in part) because most seniors do not exercise regularly.

Hopefully, all of us here will be the exception to this rule, because of our desire to maintain our health and weight by means of diet control and regular exercise, but there is no guarantee that our bodies will not fail us in old age too.

All we can do is continue to remain active and exercise as much as we can to hold off the ravages of old age but (like death) there really is nothing we can do can entirely prevent the physical detrioration that comes with old age.

No one has discovered the Fountain of Youth yet but please tell us 1st if you do.

But, might that deterioration be slowed, if not halted, if lifting and strength training were started earlier? I'm 62 and one of the reasons I started lifting was because I realised I was no longer able to do some of the things I used to do without even thinking, and for me the biggest gain is reflected in my increased ability to carry out daily tasks without pain and stiffness. Yes, I've had to take things very slowly and I'll never be a competition level body builder but I can now rise from a sitting position without using my hands as levers, I can carry shopping bags without putting my neck out and the aches and pains which had built up have eased.