Before Mona Noyes started weight training, she struggled to carry a bag of groceries up the stairs and lift herself off the toilet. Now, the 86-year-old is deadlifting.
Noyes said she’d tried other gyms before – with lots of machines, "sexy workout clothes and lithe bodies,” she says. But the gym she stuck with is different. The equipment is simple, the focus is on strength and conditioning, and several mornings are reserved for older adults. And crucially, Noyes she gets to work with a trainer who knows her.
Strength training can help people stay healthy as they age. It can slow age-related muscle loss, help maintain bone density, improve stability, and even extend lives. "This is the best thing you [can] do for yourself, and then all the people around you," says Noyes. "Because you keep functioning."
Becca Jordre, a professor of physical therapy at the University of South Dakota, studies active older adults. She says at every age, bodies need to be pushed through exercise.
"If the signal is: I'm going to sit in my chair and I'm not going to walk very far, our body will adjust — we'll lose muscle mass and bone density," Jordre says. But with regular exercise, the body can adapt.
"It is just as possible with older adults as it is with younger individuals," Jordre says.
Noyes' trainer Emily Scolinsky says she gets a lot of satisfaction from working with older clients. "The worst thing that you can do is stop [moving]," Scolinsky says. "When they start a program like this … they stand taller. They walk with more purpose … because in the back of their mind, they know what they're capable of doing in the gym."
Get the whole story and hear from more seniors who weight train.
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