Strong 71-year-old woman is showing that heavy weightlifting is for seniors. Doctors agree. |
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Emmie Sanh was at a low point. She didn’t feel good, barely exercised, and was tasked with caring for her aging mother. Like many people, she realized her life needed to change, so she decided to take up weight training. Here’s the thing, though: she started at the ripe young age of 68.
Now Sanh’s commitment to strength training has gotten her noticed, with many people inspired by the videos she uploads to her social media. Commenters have remarked on her energy level and have been impressed by the number of squats, curls, lunges, and other weight-room exercises she showcases.
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“If you told me 50 years ago that I’d be lifting heavier than ever and feeling my most energetic at 71, I never would’ve believed you – but here I am,” Sanh told Women’s Health. “Getting older is inevitable but weakness is optional, and I’m so grateful that I get to do hard things at 71. After all, I don’t lift for my age – I lift for my life.”
Why many doctors recommend weight training for seniors
Understandably, many people consider weight training to be a younger person’s game. Typically, many older adults become weaker and lose size or stature, making weight training look like it’s for younger people. But that is precisely why many doctors recommend that adults include more weight training and resistance exercise as they get older.
Studies have found that heavy weight training by seniors can benefit their lives. Such strength training can help prevent muscle mass from deteriorating and can improve mobility. Muscles build, tendons get stronger, and bone density increases. Building bone density is important as a person ages, helping reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
What weight training exercises should seniors try?
Personal trainers who spoke to Upworthy offered exercise recommendations and tips for seniors who want to head to the weight room.
United States Marine Corps veteran and professional trainer Victor Kanashiro suggests Smith machines as a great place for older lifters to start.
“A few examples of safe heavy weightlifting exercises for older adults include Smith machine squats, Smith machine bench press, and Smith machine rows are effective options,” said Kanashiro. “These movements provide the benefits of compound barbell lifting while adding built-in safety features like adjustable safety stops, which help reduce the risk of injury and make heavy lifting more accessible.”
Strength and fitness trainer Allison Kalsched echoed that weightlifting machines can offer more stability and safety. Kalsched also recommends that older lifters start much lighter than they might think, as they are not in the same bodies they were in during their 20s.
“I would always suggest starting simple with the basic movements such as squats, pulling movements, pushing movements and carrying weights while walking,” said Kalsched. “These moves mimic the activities we all have to complete to be an active participant in life, so training in the gym should prepare us for a long and strong life.”
Kalsched also mentioned that seniors can check their eligibility for SilverSneakers through Medicare to receive free memberships to participating gyms. On top of that, she recommends a private session with a personal trainer for exercise guidance. If they cannot afford it long term, one or two sessions should be enough to help a senior learn a routine and proper form so they can continue their fitness journey independently, if they wish.
To keep your golden years golden, it is worth going to the gym to lift some iron.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60 countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
Puberty is a beast, one that most people try not to remember until they’re standing face to face with their own child and their wildly fluctuating hormones. Unfortunately, for those born with female reproductive organs, adolescent puberty is only the first puberty they will experience.
Many people think “second puberty” refers to the symptoms of perimenopause, which is also the result of fluctuating hormones. Perimenopause comes on a little more gradually than puberty. While the smells, mood swings, and raging hormones might feel familiar, those symptoms usually appear years after hormones begin to decline.
There was even a recent moment in Internet history where young women were calling their mid-20s “second puberty.” This was due to them noticing a positive change in appearance that solidified their mature features. Many referred to it as a “glow-up,” focusing on the positive effects of coming out on the other end of puberty. While that’s endearing, puberty is due to an influx of increased hormone levels, which alter the way the world perceives you and how you perceive the world.
Women who have given birth, or will in the future, experience more of a true “second puberty.” This occurs after the birth of their first child, when the mother’s system is flooded with a hormonal shift that literally alters her brain. The “second puberty” birthing people experience is actually called Matrescence, a term meaning the process of becoming a mother coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael.
According to the scientific journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences:
“The hormonal fluctuations of pregnancy, birth, and lactation initiate rapid and extreme physiological transformations that are unparalleled across the lifespan. These biological changes are accompanied by a dynamic restructuring of the physical, emotional, and social environment. In concert with these adaptations, the maternal brain undergoes significant structural and functional neuroplasticity as well as cognitive adaptations across the peripartum period. The brain is transformed, in preparation for and in response to, a developing child.”
Every person charged with caring for an infant undergoes beneficial cognitive changes. Oxytocin is released in the caregiver’s brain regardless of sex or gender, whether the child is related biologically, through adoption, or fostering. Think of it as nature’s way of trying to encourage the survival of the species.
Current studies show that Matrescence is unique to the birthing person, causing the brain to do more than make cognitive changes. When someone experiences this “second puberty,” the sudden hormonal shifts create structural changes to the brain. A study published by Human Brain Mapping found that adolescent girls and adult first-time mothers had the same monthly measurement of gray matter loss.
“In both cases, these reductions were accompanied by decreases in cortical thickness, surface area, local gyrification index, sulcal depth, and sulcal length, as well as increases in sulcal width,” the authors of the 2019 study explained. “In fact, the changes associated with pregnancy did not differ from those that characterize the transition during adolescence in any of these measures.”
According to studies, the reduction in gray matter caused by Matrescence lasts up to two years postpartum. While the infamous “mommy brain” caused by the loss of gray matter in the hippocampus may be bothersome, it seems to serve a purpose.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences noted, “Lower hippocampal volume at 4 months postpartum is associated with positive mother–child interactions, suggesting hippocampal changes have broad implications in maternal caregiving behavior, beyond cognition.”
This “second puberty” news made its way to social media. You can listen to one Instagram creator share their understanding of Matrescence below:
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There are simple things we know to be true about happiness: Going for a walk in the sunshine just feels good. So does a hug, or hearing your favorite song. Petting a dog puts most of us in a better mood. And so does a little bit of intense exercise. Maybe not during, but definitely after, when we’re basking in the afterglow of our effort.
The science behind life’s simple pleasures is where things start to get really interesting. Happiness isn’t just one feeling, it’s a collection of several different feelings, and many of them come from our brain’s internal pharmacy of “feel good” chemicals, or neurochemicals. They’re known as........