When it comes to weight training, you’re never too old to start.

LMQC Boomer Blogger Alan Sivell explains how he managed to overcome a lifetime of avoiding weight-training, but now finds himself in the gym lifting weight and enjoying it.

I have always dreaded lifting weights.

A therapist doing a deep dive might find that it goes back to the summer before I entered high school.

LMQC blogger, Alan Sivell, has spent the last 40 years looking for something to do other than lifting weights.

The football captains insisted the team – including the incoming sophomores – spend part of the summer at the high school inside a dank space in the back of the locker room lifting free weights.

We stood in line behind the seniors and juniors to get our chance to lift, wasting time and the summer weather. And it seemed to me that all that fumbling to put on just the right amount of weight for only about a 15-second set was an inefficient way to get fit.

It would take well over an hour to finish a workout.

Anything other than lifting weight …

The next year, the school got some Universal machines that made changing the weights easier and faster, so the workouts didn’t take quite as long.

But still, I’d have much rather been outside, running and playing baseball – which was the sport that was in season – in the fresh air.

For me, running (biking, skiing, racquetball, etc.) was a much more efficient and a lot more fun way to get fit. Especially during my working and child-rearing years.

Then, I had only limited time for a workout. I didn’t want to waste the time between sets to rest. And I hated waiting for those people at the gym who bounced from machine to machine in no particular order and interrupted my carefully planned routine.

In those years, I didn’t have that time to waste.

Retirement brings a new perspective on working out.

But now I am retired. As of June 30th, I had the time. I am not staring at the clock while I work out, worrying about getting to class and calculating how long the shaving, showering and dressing would take. Sometimes the shaving would get cut. So I began lifting, seriously (at least for me), for the first time in more than 40 years.

And what do you know? I like it.

I have always known weight training was good for you, especially as you get older. The CDC put out an excellent booklet about 20 years ago, “Strength Training for Older Adults” which is a good place to start for the weight lifting novice. The first chapter should serve as a motivator.

Some good reasons for starting a program, the CDC writes, is that lifting can “reduce the signs and symptoms of many diseases and chronic conditions” such as arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, obesity, and back pain.

And that’s only scratching the surface of the benefits.

The more you know …

Google “benefits of weight training for seniors,” and you will find thousands of articles and videos that will inform you and hopefully motivate you to try lifting if you are not already doing so.

Admittedly, if you’ve never tried weight training, the machines, even with their instructions pictured on them, can be confusing at first. Most clubs will walk you through a routine the first few times. Ask questions. Fellow gym rats will be happy to help a kindred spirit. It’s important to do the exercises right so you get the most benefit and don’t get hurt.

I still do a cardio workout six days a week, but I have shifted my priorities. Instead of six days of hour-long cardio workouts (biking, rowing, or the elliptical), I only do three. On the other three days, my 20-30 minutes of cardio comes AFTER 30 minutes of lifting.

It’s taken more than 50 years, but I no longer dread lifting weights. Now that I have the time, those are the days I enjoy the most.

I have always dreaded lifting weights.

A therapist doing a deep dive might find that it goes back to the summer before I entered high school.

LMQC blogger, Alan Sivell, has spent the last 40 years looking for something to do other than lifting weights.

The football captains insisted the team – including the incoming sophomores – spend part of the summer at the high school inside a dank space in the back of the locker room lifting free weights.

We stood in line behind the seniors and juniors to get our chance to lift, wasting time and the summer weather. And it seemed to me that all that fumbling to put on just the right amount of weight for only about a 15-second set was an inefficient way to get fit.

It would take well over an hour to finish a workout.

Anything other than lifting weight …

The next year, the school got some Universal machines that made changing the weights easier and faster, so the workouts didn’t take quite as long.

But still, I’d have much rather been outside, running and playing baseball – which was the sport that was in season – in the fresh air.

For me, running (biking, skiing, racquetball, etc.) was a much more efficient and a lot more fun way to get fit. Especially during my working and child-rearing years.

Then, I had only limited time for a workout. I didn’t want to waste the time between sets to rest. And I hated waiting for those people at the gym who bounced from machine to machine in no particular order and interrupted my carefully planned routine.

In those years, I didn’t have that time to waste.

Retirement brings a new perspective on working out.

But now I am retired. As of June 30th, I had the time. I am not staring at the clock while I work out, worrying about getting to class and calculating how long the shaving, showering and dressing would take. Sometimes the shaving would get cut. So I began lifting, seriously (at least for me), for the first time in more than 40 years.

And what do you know? I like it.

I have always known weight training was good for you, especially as you get older. The CDC put out an excellent booklet about 20 years ago, “Strength Training for Older Adults” which is a good place to start for the weight lifting novice. The first chapter should serve as a motivator.

Some good reasons for starting a program, the CDC writes, is that lifting can “reduce the signs and symptoms of many diseases and chronic conditions” such as arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, obesity, and back pain.

And that’s only scratching the surface of the benefits.

The more you know …

Google “benefits of weight training for seniors,” and you will find thousands of articles and videos that will inform you and hopefully motivate you to try lifting if you are not already doing so.

Admittedly, if you’ve never tried weight training, the machines, even with their instructions pictured on them, can be confusing at first. Most clubs will walk you through a routine the first few times. Ask questions. Fellow gym rats will be happy to help a kindred spirit. It’s important to do the exercises right so you get the most benefit and don’t get hurt.

I still do a cardio workout six days a week, but I have shifted my priorities. Instead of six days of hour-long cardio workouts (biking, rowing, or the elliptical), I only do three. On the other three days, my 20-30 minutes of cardio comes AFTER 30 minutes of lifting.

It’s taken more than 50 years, but I no longer dread lifting weights. Now that I have the time, those are the days I enjoy the most.