I was talking with one of my personal training clients the other day, and that conversation inspired me to write this post.
People are often surprised to hear that the majority of people I train are in the 55-70 age range. I don't know why, but I just seem to "connect" well with older women, and over the years I've really grown to enjoy training them the most.
I think one of the reasons is because with younger women, they usually just want weight loss, or a flatter stomach, or to get more "toned". Nothing wrong with any of those things, but they aren't really in the place in their lives where they're thinking about health or their future quality of life -they just want to look better. Now, of course, this isn't always the case, but it is what I've found to be true of most of the younger women I've trained.
Older women, however, often come to me with the initial goal of wanting to lose weight, but because they are at a different stage in life, they're also usually at the point where they realize they have to focus more on their health. They are losing muscle, everything is sagging, they don't the have energy or stamina they used to have, and their bodies are stiff and achey and not moving like they used to.
So what usually happens is that even if they initially come to me with weight loss as their main goal, after a few months, they start to realize how strength training is good for them in so many ways, which is what I was talking about with my client the other day. She hasn't lost a ton of weight on the scale, but she now realizes the importance of strength training and maintaining muscle mass at her age. She was telling me how her stamina has improved, and how her posture and core strength is so much better, how things are getting firmer that used to be flabby.
The thing is, most older women know they may not ever have a 6 pack or be "skinny" like they used to be, but that's no longer what they're striving for. They just want to feel better and get stronger, and that is what is so great about training them. I love seeing them get stronger and begin to move better! Being able to take someone who has never lifted weights, or who can barely do a bodyweight squat, or maybe even can't get up off of the ground on their own, and have them squatting with weight, doing pushups, deadlifts, and lunges, is a really cool thing to me. That's really what it's all about!
And I don't train my clients like they're fragile beings who can't do anything. No, I have them lifting heavy. Of course, "heavy" is relative, but what I mean when I say that is that they are lifting what is heavy for THEM.
This fitness thing? It is so much more than 6 pack abs. It's about:
-preventing osteoperosis
-maintaining and building muscle
-gaining the strength you need for every day activities
-increased stamina
-future quality of life
-preventing diseases
-staying flexible and mobile
-decreasing risk of falls and injuries
And the awesome thing is, it doesn't matter what age you are-it is literally NEVER too late to start. It's never too late to reap the benefits of strength training. You CAN get stronger at any age. You CAN build muscle at any age. You CAN improve the way you move and feel and look at ANY age. I know because I've seen it.
Don't just accept that your body is going to fall apart and wither away because that's just what happens as you get older and there's nothing you can do about it. There ABSOLUTELY is something you can do about it! It's called strength training.
People are often surprised to hear that the majority of people I train are in the 55-70 age range. I don't know why, but I just seem to "connect" well with older women, and over the years I've really grown to enjoy training them the most.
I think one of the reasons is because with younger women, they usually just want weight loss, or a flatter stomach, or to get more "toned". Nothing wrong with any of those things, but they aren't really in the place in their lives where they're thinking about health or their future quality of life -they just want to look better. Now, of course, this isn't always the case, but it is what I've found to be true of most of the younger women I've trained.
Older women, however, often come to me with the initial goal of wanting to lose weight, but because they are at a different stage in life, they're also usually at the point where they realize they have to focus more on their health. They are losing muscle, everything is sagging, they don't the have energy or stamina they used to have, and their bodies are stiff and achey and not moving like they used to.
So what usually happens is that even if they initially come to me with weight loss as their main goal, after a few months, they start to realize how strength training is good for them in so many ways, which is what I was talking about with my client the other day. She hasn't lost a ton of weight on the scale, but she now realizes the importance of strength training and maintaining muscle mass at her age. She was telling me how her stamina has improved, and how her posture and core strength is so much better, how things are getting firmer that used to be flabby.
The thing is, most older women know they may not ever have a 6 pack or be "skinny" like they used to be, but that's no longer what they're striving for. They just want to feel better and get stronger, and that is what is so great about training them. I love seeing them get stronger and begin to move better! Being able to take someone who has never lifted weights, or who can barely do a bodyweight squat, or maybe even can't get up off of the ground on their own, and have them squatting with weight, doing pushups, deadlifts, and lunges, is a really cool thing to me. That's really what it's all about!
And I don't train my clients like they're fragile beings who can't do anything. No, I have them lifting heavy. Of course, "heavy" is relative, but what I mean when I say that is that they are lifting what is heavy for THEM.
This fitness thing? It is so much more than 6 pack abs. It's about:
-preventing osteoperosis
-maintaining and building muscle
-gaining the strength you need for every day activities
-increased stamina
-future quality of life
-preventing diseases
-staying flexible and mobile
-decreasing risk of falls and injuries
And the awesome thing is, it doesn't matter what age you are-it is literally NEVER too late to start. It's never too late to reap the benefits of strength training. You CAN get stronger at any age. You CAN build muscle at any age. You CAN improve the way you move and feel and look at ANY age. I know because I've seen it.
Don't just accept that your body is going to fall apart and wither away because that's just what happens as you get older and there's nothing you can do about it. There ABSOLUTELY is something you can do about it! It's called strength training.
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