Why Getting Older Doesn’t Have to Mean Getting Weaker: Ageing With Resilience
There is a strange message we seem to absorb as we get older. A sore knee appears and we blame our age. We feel stiffer getting out of bed and decide this must simply be what happens now. We notice that recovery takes a little longer than it used to and quietly start lowering our expectations of what our bodies should be capable of.
But ageing and decline are not the same thing
Our bodies certainly change as we get older, and pretending otherwise isn’t particularly helpful. Muscle mass, bone density, balance and recovery can all be affected by age. What matters enormously, though, is what we do with the body we have now.
For women, this conversation becomes particularly important during perimenopause and menopause. Changing hormone levels can affect sleep, energy, mood, muscle mass and the way we recover from exercise. Oestrogen also plays an important role in maintaining bone strength, and as levels fall around menopause, bone loss can accelerate. This is one of the reasons women become more vulnerable to osteoporosis as they get older.
Osteoporosis often gets talked about as though it is something to worry about when we are elderly. Looking after our bones needs to begin much earlier.
And this is where strength becomes so important
Resistance exercise, whether that means lifting weights, using resistance bands or working against your own bodyweight, helps maintain muscle and supports bone health. Weight bearing movement such as walking, dancing and climbing stairs also gives our skeleton the stimulation it needs. The NHS specifically recommends weight bearing and resistance exercise as important ways to maintain bone density and help prevent osteoporosis.
That doesn’t mean suddenly deciding at 50 that you need to train like a 25 year old athlete.
Quite the opposite actually – resilient ageing is about meeting your body where it is and then asking it, gently and progressively, to become a little more capable.
Can you strengthen your legs so getting out of a chair remains easy? Can you improve your balance, so you feel confident walking across uneven ground? Can you keep your shoulders mobile enough to reach overhead comfortably? Can you carry your shopping, get down onto the floor and back up again, climb stairs, walk for an hour or lift something reasonably heavy without immediately worrying that you have hurt yourself?
These things may not sound glamorous, but they are the foundations of independence
For women navigating perimenopause and menopause, strength training can become less about how your body looks and much more about investing in the woman you want to be at 60, 70 and beyond. Strong muscles support your joints. Strong bones are more resistant to fracture. Better balance reduces the likelihood of falls. Regular movement keeps us practising the very skills we want our bodies to retain.
None of us gets to stop ageing
But we do get some say in how we age.
At Astral Fitness, I would much rather help you build a body that is prepared for the years ahead than tell you to slow down simply because another birthday has arrived. Ageing with resilience isn’t about desperately trying to stay young.
It is about becoming strong enough, mobile enough and confident enough to keep living your life on your own terms.
I offer Personal Training tailored to exactly where you are now, and if you feel there is a bigger issue at play that needs resolution before you embark on a regular exercise regime, then why not book in for a massage instead? Head over to www.astralfitness.co.uk to book a massage or email me [email protected] to enquire about Personal Training.
Thank you for reading this weeks blog, Why Getting Older Doesn’t Have to Mean Getting Weaker.
Thanks for reading,
Chloe