Two questions we get often – what age is ok to start strength training and at what age is it not possible to build strength anymore? This is akin to asking what age can you walk around and play and at what point should you stop moving. It tells us there is a widespread misunderstanding about weightlifting and/or a huge whack of people are doing it wrong.
Forget all that though and let’s just meet Rod. Rod is 87 and is one of our long time personal training clients. He came on his chiropractor’s recommendation so he could build some muscle to hold his corrections better. He stayed because he has been trying to avoid a full knee replacement surgery
Rod faithfully trains once a week and lifts heavy weight with slow movement. We remove the momentum and thus the risk of agitating any of his joints. Overtime he has progressed to where he can actually perform many exercises at a more natural pace without risk to injury which is a good sign of development.
We built Rods workouts around a foundation of ergonomic machines and slowly graduated to adding in cable and freeweight work over time. He doesn’t like every exercise and doesn’t hate every exercise. You see Rod is just like everyone else, he values his quality of life, and independence so he works on muscle, bone density and connective tissue strength.
It’s that simple and Rod is not an exception he is the rule. Strength training is for everyone as it can be tailored to the individual. Do it well and do it consistently and enjoy a full life.
Be well, be strong,
Andrew and Tierney
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wefit.ca 
[…] blog post we highlighted Rod (https://wefit.ca/2018/06/05/too-old-for-weights/ ) Rod at 87 comes faithfully every week for personal training. He doesn’t just do it to keep […]