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Happy Monday! As we get started, I want to talk a little bit about lifting. You’ve probably read that lifting weights is good for women, and as we age, lifting heavier weight is even better, but what does that mean? Many of us don’t care about lifting, but rather want to be able to do the sport we care about injury free, which is the biggest incentive to lift. Many PTs will say that for runners, you should be able to squat your body weight. So for me, that would be about 150 lbs, which I must admit, is not where I am! I prioritize running volume simply because I like it more. But when I actually take the time to build up strength, hills become flat, and everything feels better. Lifting weight is important for our sports, but it’s also crucial for our health as we age for several reasons: Maintaining Muscle Mass: As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass due to hormonal changes and decreased physical activity. Strength training helps counteract this loss by building and maintaining muscle mass, which is essential for overall strength and functionality. Preventing Osteoporosis: Strength training, particularly weight-bearing exercises like lifting weights, helps increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. This is especially important for as we are more prone to osteoporosis than men. Improving Metabolism: Strength training boosts metabolism by increasing muscle mass, which in turn helps with weight management and fat loss. As metabolism tends to slow down with age, strength training becomes even more important for maintaining a healthy weight. Enhancing Joint Health: Strength training can improve joint health by strengthening the muscles around the joints, which helps reduce the risk of injuries and alleviate joint pain associated with conditions like arthritis. Enhancing Functional Ability: Strength training improves functional abilities such as balance, coordination, and flexibility, which are crucial for maintaining independence and reducing the risk of falls as we age. Improving Mental Health: Engaging in regular strength training can have positive effects on mental health by reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, boosting self-esteem, and improving overall mood and well-being.
If you’ve heard that it’s important to “lift heavy” (maybe even from me!), it’s good to think about how that applies to you specifically. Have you strength trained before? If not, lifting heavy is as simple as lifting weight. It’s very important to perform the exercises with good form and proper technique. The best way to do that is to stand tall, slightly engaging everything. If you’re familiar with yoga at all, think mountain pose. Please use our video library if you’re unfamiliar with lifting. We’ll go into this more as we continue through the training, but as a start, it’s important to lift what you can with good form! Then, when you’re thinking about how much weight to use, add what makes it challenging to complete the set (say, 10 reps), but doable with good form. It’s really easy to get lulled into staying at the same amount of weight, but add more each set, or at least each week. At a certain point it’s a confidence thing, that is also really awesome, because your body makes the adaptation, but it’s hard to think that it will be possible. But know that it is-add gradually, but keep adding! I’ve applied training plans to those in TrainingPeaks. If you don’t have a plan yet, check to make sure you created or linked your account HERE. Also, in the member area of the website there’s a form to let me know a little bit about you. If you don’t want to do a form, just reply to this email and tell me your goals! Or, you can post in our Private Slack Channel . Have a great week! Alison PS-if you have any friends who might be interested in joining, pass this along and I can get them started.
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