- September 6, 2024
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Longboater Jan Feidelman, 70, has always included movement in her everyday life. She was on sports teams in high school and did workout classes in college.
But as she got older, working out took on a new purpose: maintaining functional mobility.
“As an older woman, you start to lose your range of motion or your strength,” said Feidelman. “So when I realized that, I moved into weight-bearing exercises around 17 years ago. Thanks to lifting weights, I still can do most things that I could do when I was younger. I can bend down to clean something around the house. I can catch myself when I fall. Many of my friends my age can’t do that.”
As people age they experience muscle loss. This is called sarcopenia, said Petar Sibinkic, Feidelman’s trainer and owner of Longboat Key Fitness. He said that including exercise, strength training and cardio in your everyday life is necessary to prevent this muscle loss and increase your lifespan.
Marilyn Shuman, 87, said she started working out because her family has a history of early arthritis. Moving all her muscle groups helps prevent arthritis in specific body parts such as her knees and quads. She was introduced to weight training 25 years ago, and it changed her whole view on what a full-body workout looks like.
Shuman is all about consistency and routine. She works out for two hours two days every week at Longboat Key Fitness with a trainer. The other days of the week, she works out at her building’s fitness center doing aerobic workouts on the elliptical or the bicycle.
“A lot of people focus on one or the other, but it is the combination of weightlifting and cardio that gives the best results,” said Shuman.
Susan Singer, 75, started lifting when she was 48 years old because she noticed that when she gained weight her body would broaden. Weightlifting focused on tightening her muscles. She started working with her trainer Michael Clarke during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Singer said having a trainer is the best way to work out. Clarke reminds her to have the correct form and will make adjustments to the workout according to her medical issues.
When she isn’t at Longboat Key Fitness, Singer goes to Pilates classes, which also include weights for some of the exercises. Working out consistently and prioritizing healthy eating habits helped Singer see results in one month.
The biggest benefits these women have seen from weightlifting are better balance and strength. Since they work out every muscle group, it gives them high energy levels, keeps the blood pumping correctly and releases endorphins.
“When you hit a certain age, you go to the doctor and they ask you, ‘When is the last time you fell,’” said Feidelman. “This is just a shocking question to me, but it is so prevalent in our lives when we get older. So when I do fall, I can actually get up. I thankfully don’t even have to think about restrictions.”
Weight lifting can help slow down bone loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. Osteoporosis is most prevalent in women after menopause, but both men and women can benefit.
Each year skeletons are constantly discarding weakened, old bone tissue and replacing it with new, healthy bone tissue. This process is called remodeling, wrote certified health coach Mirabai Holland in a column for the Observer.
If you have osteoporosis, the remodeling process can't work correctly because the old bone tissue is too weak and little or nothing takes its place. This creates bone fractures.
Weight-bearing exercises help stimulate the remodeling process and promote bone growth. Holland emphasizes doing resistance training exercises that work out the whole body but focusing on the areas most at risk, which are the spine, hip and wrist.
All three women have noticed that working out consistently has mental and social benefits as well.
They have noticed how their attitude changes when they miss a workout. Starting the morning with a workout provides a great start to the day and puts them in a good mental health space for the rest of the day.
The community atmosphere at the gym also motivates them to work out even when they don’t want to. Singer said that she was friends with her trainer before they started working out together, which makes the workout more enjoyable.
“Working out here truly releases the stresses of every day,” said Shuman. “We joke around that we need something mindless while we're working out. Our favorite is to watch ‘The Price Is Right.’ I will usually be on the elliptical and my friend will also be on the elliptical. We try and guess the prices and have a little competition going on at the same time while exercising. We have a lot of fun that way.”
It is the little aspects like watching “The Price is Right” or being friends with your trainer that keep these women coming back. With the benefits of weightlifting and the close friends they have built, they said they wouldn’t know what their life would be like if this wasn’t a part of their routine.
“It is so important to prioritize movement and how your body changes because it is such a big part of your life,” said Feidelman. “Movement is just life so weightlifting will help you stay in motion for as long as possible.”
