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I am enjoying this thread! I am 60, and I want to lift weights as part of my exercise routine, so I am enjoying this thread.
I am interested in firming and toning my muscles - but not in body building.
As I understand the difference between a body building workout and one that firms and tones is the size of the weights. I am probably being simplistic, but that is my understanding.
I am enjoying this thread! I am 60, and I want to lift weights as part of my exercise routine, so I am enjoying this thread.
I am interested in firming and toning my muscles - but not in body building.
As I understand the difference between a body building workout and one that firms and tones is the size of the weights. I am probably being simplistic, but that is my understanding.
Go for it.
I will say this though, you'll be doing yourself a disservice by sticking to lower weights and largely wasting your time. Lifting heavy DOESN'T mean that you'll bulk up to Ms. Olympia! Again ladies..."toning" is just a gentle, more female friendly term for muscularity. You'll want to not only "tone" but you'll want to get STRONGER as well. That means you'll have to progressively increase the weight. I am by no means bulky but I am fairly strong - all courtesy of lifting increasingly heavier amounts of weight.
Yeah, people may think I'm not all that "soft" since I started lifting. But I don't define my femininity by the presence of defined muscles. I embrace it - all of it. Guns, shoulders, chest, back... doesn't matter a whit to me what some people think about muscular women and neither should you. I'd rather be this than skinny and flabby.
I will say this though, you'll be doing yourself a disservice by sticking to lower weights and largely wasting your time. Lifting heavy DOESN'T mean that you'll bulk up to Ms. Olympia! Again ladies..."toning" is just a gentle, more female friendly term for muscularity. You'll want to not only "tone" but you'll want to get STRONGER as well. That means you'll have to progressively increase the weight. I am by no means bulky but I am fairly strong - all courtesy of lifting increasingly heavier amounts of weight.
Yeah, people may think I'm not all that "soft" since I started lifting. But I don't define my femininity by the presence of defined muscles. I embrace it - all of it. Guns, shoulders, chest, back... doesn't matter a whit to me what some people think about muscular women and neither should you. I'd rather be this than skinny and flabby.
You are only in your 40s - you are responding to a woman in her 60s, as is the OP and as I am, and I believe your mother is..... you would not tell your mother to start by lifting heavy, would you? Everyone needs to EASE INTO IT! I am in my late 60s = believe me there is a huge difference between age 60s and age 40s. Sure, some senior older women can do substantial weight training, but the MAJORITY are NOT going to "lift heavy" although that is a relative term. Please, people, use some common sense here......
I don't believe older people, especially women, are "wasting their time" by sticking to lower weights with more reps - I even had a young body builder friend who recommended it, he said that is what he did, and my husband's trainer does as well. There is not just "one way" to accomplish being strong and toned. "Lifting heavy" especially in the beginning can be a recipe for disaster......
You are only in your 40s - you are responding to a woman in her 60s, as is the OP and as I am, and I believe your mother is..... you would not tell your mother to start by lifting heavy, would you? Everyone needs to EASE INTO IT! I am in my late 60s = believe me there is a huge difference between age 60s and age 40s. Sure, some senior older women can do substantial weight training, but the MAJORITY are NOT going to "lift heavy" although that is a relative term. Please, people, use some common sense here......
I don't believe older people, especially women, are "wasting their time" by sticking to lower weights with more reps - I even had a young body builder friend who recommended it, he said that is what he did, and my husband's trainer does as well. There is not just "one way" to accomplish being strong and toned. "Lifting heavy" especially in the beginning can be a recipe for disaster......
gypsychic,
I'm not sure what you are arguing. riaelise is giving excellent advice. The majority of older women have been following old wives tales about lifting weights. Many women do not want to lift to failure. Their idea of lifting weight is to do reps until you get bored. You are more likely to get overuse injuries from doing a lot of reps as opposed to doing less reps with heavier weight. And the word that is most counterproductive to women's fitness is the word "toned." It has no place in a discussion of weightlifting or fitness.
You are only in your 40s - you are responding to a woman in her 60s, as is the OP and as I am, and I believe your mother is..... you would not tell your mother to start by lifting heavy, would you? Everyone needs to EASE INTO IT! I am in my late 60s = believe me there is a huge difference between age 60s and age 40s. Sure, some senior older women can do substantial weight training, but the MAJORITY are NOT going to "lift heavy" although that is a relative term. Please, people, use some common sense here......
I don't believe older people, especially women, are "wasting their time" by sticking to lower weights with more reps - I even had a young body builder friend who recommended it, he said that is what he did, and my husband's trainer does as well. There is not just "one way" to accomplish being strong and toned. "Lifting heavy" especially in the beginning can be a recipe for disaster......
Please don't misunderstand my post. Of course one should use common sense. In addition, in prior posts, I advised that one should ease into strength training (regardless of age). What I was speaking out against was the belief that you should continue lifting light weights if you don't want to look like the women in the pictures OP posted, who are all competitive bodybuilders that follow a training regimen that is more than simply lifting heavy weights. You don't start of lifting heavy weights, but it's only natural progression (if you train right) that after awhile the exercise becomes easier and you'll move to heavier weight, and you'll keep increasing the weight as long as you are able to do so. There are far too many women (of any age) who buy into that myth that they'll have a competitive bodybuilder's physique because they lift something higher than 7.5 lbs. They deliberately just do a bunch of reps with light weight instead of less reps and more weight. For years. Doing lots of reps of light weight really doesn't do much if the OP is serious about wanting to start "bodybuilding".
I don't really care for the word "toning". You're either muscular or you're not, and there's no shame in women having defined muscles. Bulk/building muscle mass is another thing entirely. That would also require following a specific diet plan. I'm not going to be bulky because I'm not increasing caloric intake in order to build muscle (this is probably due to dieting because I have a fear of eating more and gaining weight of any kind).
You are correct, there is a difference between a 40 year old body and a 60 year old one. Same can be said of a 30 year old body and a 40 year old one. Regardless of how old you are, you need to exercise with common sense. That goes without saying. But what I do, I would do whether I started at 40 or at 60. Starting in your 40s has its challenges as well, you know. But I don't let my age stop me, I listen to my body. And over time, and if you pay attention to form, your body will tell you when to advance. that's the great thing about lifting weights, you are constantly challenged, always setting new goals. Last week I powered through a plateau and finally achieved my personal bench record of 105 lbs. 105 is nothing for guys, but for me, a 42 year old woman who has barely 2 years under her belt, getting over 100lbs was a goal that remained elusive.
gypsychic,
I'm not sure what you are arguing. riaelise is giving excellent advice. The majority of older women have been following old wives tales about lifting weights. Many women do not want to lift to failure. Their idea of lifting weight is to do reps until you get bored. You are more likely to get overuse injuries from doing a lot of reps as opposed to doing less reps with heavier weight. And the word that is most counterproductive to women's fitness is the word "toned." It has no place in a discussion of weightlifting or fitness.
You are only in your 40s - you are responding to a woman in her 60s, as is the OP and as I am, and I believe your mother is..... you would not tell your mother to start by lifting heavy, would you? Everyone needs to EASE INTO IT! I am in my late 60s = believe me there is a huge difference between age 60s and age 40s. Sure, some senior older women can do substantial weight training, but the MAJORITY are NOT going to "lift heavy" although that is a relative term. Please, people, use some common sense here......
I don't believe older people, especially women, are "wasting their time" by sticking to lower weights with more reps - I even had a young body builder friend who recommended it, he said that is what he did, and my husband's trainer does as well. There is not just "one way" to accomplish being strong and toned. "Lifting heavy" especially in the beginning can be a recipe for disaster......
I really do not think she meant to just start lifting heavy weights, but to work up to heavier weights. Lots of reps with light weights is pretty pointless. If your trainer is recommending lots of reps with light weights I think you need a new trainer.
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