Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
This week I had a new lady in her 70s attend my Strong for Life class. I had one-on-one time with her before class and asked what kind of things she does for physical activity and she said she walked a lot. I asked if she had experience lifting weights and she said “no, I’m scared I’m going to hurt myself.” Her fear is a common one. I told her weight lifting is only harmful if you do it without proper instruction, and as a woman, it’s more dangerous to not lift weights, especially in mid-life and beyond.
There will always be some risk associated with any physical activity but the benefits we receive from weight-lifting are well worth the effort. If we don’t challenge the body with weights and get our muscles and bones stronger we are at risk of brittle bones, getting injured from a fall, and not having the strength to get up from a fall. A strong body is critical to maintaining our independence.
Weight training is usually done with intent and in a controlled environment. Falls happen quickly and unexpectedly and can happen to anyone. Weight training increases our resiliency in two ways 1) it gives us the ability to pick ourselves up from the ground or catch ourselves mid-fall and 2) it puts stress on the muscle, which in turn puts stress on the bones, making them stronger and less prone to becoming brittle.
If you have fears of injury with weight training consider the risk of not weight training.
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