Sorcha PT

Strength Training in Your 60s and Beyond: Train for Life
Once you reach your 60s, the most meaningful measure of strength may have little to do with the number written on a dumbbell.
Can you get out of a chair without using your hands? Carry the shopping? Climb stairs confidently? Get down onto the floor and back up again? These are the kinds of strength goals that can make a genuine difference to everyday independence.
Age-related muscle loss, or sarcopenia, becomes increasingly relevant as we get older. Exercise physiologist Jordan Farrell explains that strength and power decline faster when we don’t train consistently. Resistance training can therefore play an important role in preserving muscle and functional strength, while also supporting balance and bone health.
Trainer Brittany Watts suggests using everyday function as your benchmark rather than worrying about impressive lifting numbers. One simple way of tracking progress is the 30-second chair stand test: count how many times you can rise from a seated position in 30 seconds.
Walking is excellent exercise, but if maintaining strength is your goal, it shouldn’t be your only activity. Regular resistance work, combined with balance and stability exercises, can help keep your body prepared for lifting, carrying, climbing and getting up from the floor.
The message is simple: getting older doesn’t mean giving up weights. Strength remains trainable – and useful – well beyond 60.

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Menopause hasn’t suddenly broken your metabolism.

But your body HAS changed.

Oestrogen is dropping.
You may be losing muscle.
You’re probably moving less than you used to.
Your sleep might be all over the place.
Stress is higher.
And the things that worked in your 30s might not work quite as well anymore.

That doesn’t mean weight gain is inevitable.

And it definitely doesn’t mean you need to eat less and less just to maintain your weight.

The answer isn’t starving yourself.

It’s rebuilding the basics for the body you have NOW.

Lift weights.
Prioritise protein.
Get your daily steps in.
Eat enough — but be aware of your calories.
Protect your sleep.
Manage your stress.
And most importantly, be consistent.

Menopause might change the game. But it doesn’t mean you’ve lost control of the outcome.

You can get stronger.
You can lose body fat.
You can feel confident in your clothes again.

And you absolutely do NOT have to accept getting fatter and weaker as part of getting older.

If your waistline has crept up through perimenopause or menopause and you’re not sure what to change…

Message me, we can talk about where I’d start.

121 Gym Pontypridd

Lifting Weights in Your 40s and 50s: Think Muscle, Not Just Weight
Your 40s and 50s aren’t the time to start backing away from weights. In fact, strength training can become increasingly important.
During this stage, particularly through perimenopause and menopause, declining oestrogen can affect muscle mass, recovery, body composition and bone health. Exercise physiologist Jordan Farrell recommends prioritising strength training two to three days a week, with the emphasis on maintaining muscle rather than simply trying to prevent weight gain.
What should those sessions look like? A useful goal is to maintain or improve your ability in the major movement patterns: a lower-body exercise such as a squat, a hip hinge such as a deadlift, a pushing movement, a pulling movement and a loaded carry.
The aim isn’t necessarily to keep chasing personal bests. Trainer Brittany Watts recommends focusing on maintaining or improving your relative strength from year to year while continuing to move well.
And if you’ve never lifted before? You haven’t missed your chance. Start as a beginner, learn good technique and gradually add resistance.
Age itself isn’t a reason to avoid challenging weights. Instead, train consistently, allow enough recovery, work on mobility and pay attention to persistent pain. Sustainable strength now can help lay the foundations for staying capable in the decades ahead.
Sources: Women’s Health, “How Much Weight Should You Be Able To Lift, Based On Your Age?” (23 September 2026); Jacob Van Den Meerendonk, PT, DPT; Jordan Farrell, ACSM-certified exercise physiologist; Brittany Watts, CPT.

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How Much Weight Should You Be Lifting? Forget the Magic Number
How heavy should you be lifting? The reassuring answer is that there’s no universal number.
You may have seen benchmarks suggesting you should deadlift twice your bodyweight or squat one-and-a-half times it. But these targets originated as performance standards for experienced male lifters – not as health guidelines for everyone.
Instead, the right weight is personal. Physical therapist Jacob Van Den Meerendonk explains that strength depends on factors including your training history, movement quality, health, previous injuries and ability to recover. Genetics and body proportions also play a role.
A practical approach is to choose a relatively light weight and perform 8–12 repetitions. According to NASM-certified personal trainer Brittany Watts, you’re in roughly the right zone when the final few repetitions feel noticeably harder, but you can still maintain good technique. If you need momentum, shorten your range of motion or lose your form, the weight is too heavy.
And remember: progress doesn’t always mean adding more weight. Performing more repetitions, improving your range of motion and control, or finding that a previously challenging workout feels easier are all signs you’re getting stronger.
Ultimately, the best weight is one that challenges you while allowing you to move well and progress consistently.
Sources: Women’s Health, “How Much Weight Should You Be Able To Lift, Based On Your Age?” (23 September 2026); Jacob Van Den Meerendonk, PT, DPT; Jordan Farrell, ACSM-certified exercise physiologist; Brittany Watts, CPT, NASM-certified personal trainer. The article also cites Harvard-led research on resistance training and long-term health.

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