9 Women Who Started Weight Training After 50, From One-Pound Dumbbells at 73 to a Race at 67

I am 78 and never want to become one of those frail old ladies with stick-like arms.

While it’s always good to work out and exercise your whole life, you CAN start a weightlifting program at an advanced age. I started mine about five years ago (age 73) and I am pretty darn strong these days.

At one time, I was thinking of entering a competition because, at my age, I would probably win by default! lol. But many of them have entry requirement that I would need to meet.

At 73, I started with one-pound dumbbells, doing various upper body exercises. After a week, (yes, a week...) I went to the 2 pound dumbbells. After that week, I taped the one pound and 2 pound together. After that week, I went rogue and started working with 5 pound dumbbells! lol. These days, I use 5 pound dumbbells for some things, 8 pounds for others and I’m now doing 12 pound for a couple of things.

I also have a basic set of barbells and got up to 40 pound deadlift.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START!

Lynda runs the NewAgeBeauty channel, where she shares the at-home workouts she started in her late 60s.

“I’m proof that it’s never too late. I’m 75, and I didn’t even start working out until my late 60s. With simple at-home workouts for women over 55, I completely transformed my body, boosted my energy, and gained confidence that shines inside and out.”

66 yr old female married/1 grown child. I worked out consistently thru my 20s and about 1/2 my 30s. Aerobics, jogging and weightlifting. Then in my late 30s I stopped weight lifting. Then about 2 and 1/2 years ago I walked back into the weight room and started weightlifting again.

I had to wake my muscles up. I have gotten a ton of tone and muscle gain back. I use the weight training to regulate my disposition. It cheers me up something amazing every time I do it. 2 and half years in and I’m still seeing significant/transformative improvements. In how strong I am (the amount of weight I can lift). In my posture. In my balance. In my ability to do every day tasks. Honestly, I feel unstoppable when I’m in the gym and the rest of the day after. Like a beast!!! I will not subject u to before and after photos, but believe me when I say I could easily be in the witness protection program. I do not look like the same person from before walking back into the gym. If I could go back in time and choose 1 activity — it would be weight lifting hands down. Nothing else compares.

Joan MacDonald didn’t start her fitness journey until she was 70. With help from her daughter and son-in-law, she began sharing it online.

“There was a time when I never would have imagined myself doing this at 80.

I didn’t grow up thinking that strength training would be something I would still be doing later in life. In fact, like many women my age, I learned much later than I wish I had.

But starting late doesn’t mean you have to stop.
Over time, I discovered that getting stronger wasn’t just about exercise. It gave me more confidence in what my body could still do and reminded me that I shouldn’t put a limit on myself simply because of my age.

So yes, I’m 80.

And I’m still learning, still moving, still challenging myself, and still discovering what I’m capable of.
Please don’t decide for me what I can’t do just because of my age.”

Muscle strength peaks in our early 30s and slowly fades after that, but muscle keeps responding to training at any age. A 2010 meta-analysis of 47 studies of people aged 50 to 92 found that resistance exercise made them 24% to 33% stronger. And in a 1994 trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, nursing home residents with an average age of 87 more than doubled their muscle strength in 10 weeks.

I’ll be 58 next month. I worked out sporadically but started being more consistent when I turned 47. Last year for my 10th workout anniversary, I joined a new gym and went from doing classes & cardio to lifting heavy weights 5x a week. Gurl. I wish I started years ago. For me consistent strength training has been the key. I’m building muscle, I just feel stronger and healthier overall.

I love to challenge myself and set goals and smash them.

I feel great and I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.

She started her fitness journey at 61 and now trains five days a week in her garage gym.

“As I got stronger, I started wondering what else I might be capable of.

That curiosity led me to bodybuilding, then powerlifting and now, at 67, I’m training for my first race.

None of those things were on my radar when I started. And certainly not when I was 50!

And here’s what I’ve learned:

Getting stronger doesn’t just change what your body can do. It changes what you believe is possible for yourself.

I’m still learning. Still challenging myself. Still discovering abilities I didn’t know I had.

And that’s what I want other women over 50 to understand.

When I started, I couldn’t have imagined that six years later I’d be preparing for a race that includes running, sled pushes, burpees and wall balls.

Sometimes you have to begin working toward one goal before you can even imagine the next one.”

After 65, more than one in four people fall each year, according to the CDC, which lists lower body weakness and trouble with walking and balance among the risks that can be changed. A 2019 Cochrane review of 108 trials, whose participants were 76 on average and mostly women, found that exercise reduced the rate of falls by 23%. Programs that combined balance exercises with strength exercises did even better, cutting falls by about a third.

Had 5 babies. A lifelong fitness buff. I was a swimmer as a kid, that’s where I learned to love cardio and also learned the value of strength training. I phoned in the weight lifting. Also, I famously did not spend time stretching.

In my 50s I suffered some painful overuse injuries that took a long time to recover from. Also, I started taking strength training seriously (I had always pursued it in a rush), and learned about mind muscle connection.

Nowadays I usually lift every 2 to 3 days. My main goals with lifting are injury prevention, and strength to apply to my beloved cardio activities.

Being physically fit at 61: LOVE IT. I have so much more energy than most people. I still work full time. I know that I am “old” but I feel great. I don’t have those old person aches and pains (but I definitely get doms from lifting!).

I hear other people in my age group or even younger complain about getting old. I can’t relate at all.

Sally Gunnell won Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles in 1992 and now works with clients on strength and fitness.

“Usually, when you reach your 50s, you start hearing...

‘It’s too late to start.’

‘You’ll naturally lose strength and fitness in your 50s.’

For a while, I believed those too. Even after my years in athletics, I assumed I would lose it and my best days were behind me.

And honestly, I did lose my way for a bit. I felt unsure, disconnected from the version of myself who loved to move & push her limits.

But I decided that wasn’t going to be my life. I chose to take control, to rebuild, and to show myself what was still possible.

And here’s what I’ve learned: you absolutely can stay strong, energetic, and fit at any age. You can lift weights, fuel your body, and feel better than ever well into your 50s and beyond.”

For people 65 and older, the CDC recommends muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups on at least 2 days a week, plus balance activities, such as walking heel-to-toe or standing up from a sitting position. The World Health Organization’s 2020 guidelines go further for people over 65: balance and strength training on 3 or more days a week.

They didn’t have sports or much of anything for girls growing up.

I was active later with things like jazzersize and mostly cardio stuff.

At 50, I started working with a trainer and started to use weights and learning about nutrition. I used mostly dumbells and kettlebells. I learned so much and became stronger.

At 60, I added barbells

I continued to get stronger, more confident and that feeling of empowerment translated throughout all areas of my life.

I’m 74 now. I can’t lift the same amount of weight that I used to and I still hate running. I’m still the slowest in the gym.

But what I can do is get in the floor and climb on a jungle gym with my grandchildren

I can put my classroom together every August and move furniture myself.

I can get up from the floor.

What you do in your 40’s and even 50’s is what your 70’s and 80’s will be like. Choose wisely.

It doesn’t have to be intense, you just have to find something you enjoy and MOVE! It’s an investment.