I started strength training about nine years ago for admittedly vain reasons. Fresh off a breakup at the time, weight training offered a welcome distraction and the prospect of a revenge body.
I trained two or three times a week; nothing crazy, just old fashioned bicep curls, weighted squats and planks. But the results were surprising: I lost more than 20 pounds, sculpted my body, and I have never felt stronger. It was empowering.
Almost a decade later, my weight training is now about being tight and strong; but the same moderate routine is creating challenges. My elbow barks every time I do bicep curls; My SI joint squeaks from sitting all day, which makes my glutes and back tense.
Then I sprained my neck and shoulder recently at the gym, which at the same time pinched a nerve. This led to excruciating pain, sleepless nights, and a maddening search through the healthcare system to find out what happened.
“You need to keep those muscles strong because we lose them as we age,” a nurse warned as she took my blood pressure. “That's how injuries happen.”
I couldn't help but see the irony: trying to stay strong is what led to the injury in the first place.
My situation posed a clear conundrum: Extensive research shows that strength training, especially for older adults, is a critical piece of the health and longevity puzzle. Strength training builds muscle mass and strength, increases bone density, and improves balance, which in turn helps prevent falls. Improves joint mobility and reduces joint stiffness. It plays a role in metabolic health, lowering blood pressure and improving glucose metabolism. It even helps heart health.
“It's probably the most important fitness modality there is for longevity,” says Dr. Christina Chen, a Mayo Clinic geriatrician and host of the “Aging Forward” podcast.
But also, strength training becomes more difficult to do during the period of life when we need it most. The older we are, the more susceptible to injury. Decades of a sedentary lifestyle, osteoporosis, arthritis and other conditions can lead to weakened muscles, weaker bones and unstable, painful joints, not to mention balance problems. All of which can present challenges (or dangers, if trained incorrectly) in the gym.
After my own injury, I set out to make sense of these two realities. And one thing became clear: The benefits of strength training, even for those in their golden years, still outweigh the risks.
“Every intervention has an associated risk, and exercise is no exception,” says Dr. Joshua T. Goldman, a sports medicine physician at UCLA. “If you sit at home in a bubble, you won't risk exercising, but you will die from heart disease, diabetes or some other illness. The aging population is at risk for more injuries overall, but it is certainly very possible to gain muscle as we age. It's just that there's more to it. You have to be smarter when it comes to training.”
It's not just about weight training as we age, but also about proper execution. So I talked to doctors, researchers, and trainers to get crucial tips on how to gain muscle without injury.
