15 Lessons From 15 Years in Fitness Part 2

6. Lifting heavy is NOT dangerous

All activities have risks. From walking to contact sports, injuries are possible. People fear  getting injured if they pick up a weight over five pounds. After 15 years of training people ages 5-80, I can tell you with confidence that lifting weights (and even heavy weights) is safe. 

How safe? One case control study in 2023 found that just 1.8 injuries for every 1,000 hours spent in the gym. Compare this with running which has up to 18 injuries per 1,000 hours of training (10 times that of lifting). 

With the right coaching and approach, anyone can lift heavy relative to their ability and be safe doing so. Does this mean injuries never happen? No. Sometimes minor pulls or tweaks happen and we work around them until it’s healed. The result is your body is LESS likely to get injured if it’s strong.

Would you rather be weak, tweak your back, and be useless for several weeks? Or have a strong body, tweak something in the gym, but be capable of still functioning while you heal?

7. Woman NEED to lift heavy

More than 80% of people with osteoporosis are women. This is due to women having smaller bones and the drop in estrogen that occurs during menopause. Resistance training has been studied extensively and proven to be highly effective in increasing bone density even when compared to other forms of exercise. 

Not only will lifting heavy give you a toned look, but it also keeps you healthier and more injury resistant. Beyond bone density, weight training will help improve your mobility, balance, and explosiveness. 

Why should you care about being explosive? A rapid response to tripping over a rock or a child’s toy requires explosive movement to avoid falling. If you do fall, the increase in bone density will decrease the chance of a bone fracture. 

8. Seniors NEED to lift heavy

Most of my work has been done with people 50 and above. When I started in the industry conventional wisdom said not to make seniors lift heavy weights. Have them work on their balance, mobility, and lift light weights for high reps. They should avoid squatting low or their knees will explode. They shouldn’t lift anything over their head or their shoulders won’t work anymore. I broke every one of these “rules.”

The standard of training seniors was sitting in chairs lifting light weights or performing aerobics in a pool. These activities can be useful in the right context, but we are seriously doing seniors a disservice when we limit them to these “gentle” modalities. 

Seniors are just as capable of getting stronger as any other population. Getting older is not a time to take it easy because as the saying goes “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” The loss of bone density (osteoporosis/osteopenia) increases the risk of bone fractures. Often a fracture of the hip for someone over 80 can be a death sentence within 12 months. Another worry is a rapid loss in muscle (AKA sarcopenia). 

After age 30 you start to lose 3-5% of your muscle per decade. Between the ages of 50 and 70 you could lose as much as 30%. Once you hit 70, the process accelerates. This will lead to a loss in independence. You eventually won’t be able to stand up off the toilet without assistance, get off the floor, or enjoy a day at the fair with your family. Keeping your body strong becomes MORE critical the older you get. 

Aside from building an injury resistant body, lifting heavy also fights off chronic diseases like dementia, osteoporosis, and cancer. With a small commitment of 2-3 hours per week, you could turn back the clock and avoid years of suffering from physical dependence, cognitive decline, and hospital visits. 

With thousands of hours of training people in their 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, anyone can improve their quality of life if they’re willing to put in the work. I’ve helped seniors get off the floor with ease, play with their grandchildren again, work in their gardens, and avoid falls. 

The best time to start lifting was 10-20 years ago, the second best time is NOW!

9. Excessive cardio is killing you!!!

Cardio is king if you want a healthy heart and endurance to do any prolonged activity. For weight loss it has been over-valued for decades. Weight loss, or more specifically fat loss, comes from a simple concept called calories in, calories out. If you burn more calories than you consume, you’ll lose weight. 

If you’re using cardio exclusively to burn calories, you’re fighting a losing battle. A simple 300 calories snack will take 30 minutes to an hour on a treadmill to burn off. If you’re consistently eating more calories than you’re burning each day, you’ll never lose weight. 

On the other hand, if you go into an excessive caloric deficit (1,000 calories or more) most of the weight you will lose will be from muscle and bone. This will lead to problems we discussed in the last few lessons. If you want to lose weight in a healthier, more sustainable way, lift weights 3-5 days per week, eat about one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, and stick to a caloric deficit of 300-500 calories per day. 

Note also that losing weight in this manner won’t reflect well on the scale. This is due to the fact that you’ll be gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneously. Seek out places that have an Inbody scale or get a DEXA scan. These measure body fat and muscle mass to give you a clearer picture of what’s changing in your body.

10. Think in years, not days

30 day reset, eight week challenge, four week cleanse, we’ve all seen them advertised. You may have participated in such a program hoping it would get you everything you want. These can be useful as a starting point, but it matters more what you do once it’s complete. 

I used to run an eight week program for beginners. People saw progress with weight loss, muscle tone, and strength. The problem was many of the participants saw the eight weeks as the end. Once they stopped, the progress they made went away. 

Six to eight weeks is a great start. To keep making progress (or maintain), the work must continue. This is how you avoid falling back into old habits and starting over in a year. 30 days of intense dedication often leads to burnout. Instead play the long game. What can you sustain for the next six months to a year without falling off? 

If your plan is to start going to the gym five days a week when you currently don’t go at all, begin with one or two days a week instead. If you find after three or four weeks that you can easily maintain this schedule, add another day and see what happens. 

Change doesn’t need to happen all at once. Map out some easy, new habits you can create in the next three to six months. For more on this refer back to Part one of this series.

To read part one look back in our blog! Part three coming soon!