Issue No.116:  I had NEVER lifted weights

Just 12 weeks ago, I started a weights program designed by our Clinical Services Manager, Pat Lynch.

I promised to give you all an update on my progress, so here goes!

Remember I had never lifted weights.  

I have lifted plenty of (overweight) bags into overhead plane lockers, more loads of shopping than I care to estimate, and many small children (not all of them lightweights), over a lifetime. I practice yoga several times a week, run and play pickleball. Geez, I even built quite a bit of Be Well!

You would think that would all be enough, right? Absolutely not. As a result of menopause (and a decade or so before then as well), like most women, I have lost an enormous amount of muscle mass.

My baseline was way lower than I expected. Even my grip strength was rubbish. This matters, a lot. Grip strength is a surprisingly powerful predicator of longevity, especially in older adults. A 12-year study of 14,000 adults aged 50+ found that those with a weaker grip strength had a 45% higher risk of death.

No time to lose!

Thanks to Pat’s careful planning for wimps like me, within 4 weeks I had doubled the weights I was lifting and progressed from 2 to 3 sessions per week.

But here’s an unintended consequence!

In 6 weeks, my kids started commenting on how my pickleball game had picked up,  my yoga felt so much easier and my running stronger.

Here’s the joy!

Now 12 weeks in, I’m lifting 3 times what I started, and my grip strength has dramatically improved. That’s what a 20 min weights routine at Be Well 3 times a week will do for you.

More than all of this, I feel strong, in my arms, on my feet and in my body, I no longer feel a little, what?, fragile, breakable,  something like that. My daily longevity stack is definitely helping as well.

I am thrilled we are building a dedicated weights studio at Be Well over the next few months. I’m deeply inspired and encouraged by other Be Well Members of all ages who are on the same journey, including those just starting and those who are smashing it! (I see you Celia P!).

I’ve also learned you have to keep doing other things. I started doing weights and stopped everything else. I am a bit like that. I tend to double down but cardio and recovery are just as important which is why we made sure you can create your own daily or weekly circuit and adventure at Be Well.

Here’s to be stronger, healthier and happier!