🎙️ Episode 48:

From walking stick to 55kg deadlift, this is what strength training over 70 can really look like. Phil was 75 years old when he first came to see me. He had two serious knee injuries (2016 and 2018), no gym history whatsoever, and no expectations beyond getting a bit of help calming his knees down.

He was using a walking stick regularly, couldn’t kneel down, and had given up on his garden for two years. By the time we filmed this conversation in 2021, he was deadlifting 55 kilograms for 10 reps. That’s almost his entire bodyweight (he’s since gone on to deadlift 75kg and backsquat 65kg).

This is one of the most powerful stories in the Never Too Old to Lift archive, and it’s exactly why I believe strength training for older adults is one of the most important things we can be talking about.

In this episode, we cover:

• What it actually felt like to walk into a gym for the first time at 75 with no exercise background
• How Phil kept training through COVID lockdowns with a resistance band and a cleaning bag
• The moment he realised something had genuinely changed
• Deadlifting 55kg, squatting 45kg, and losing two stone
• Why he believes guided professional support is the key to exercising safely with knee problems
• Why the fear of injury from strength training is, in his words, unfair

Phil still comes to my over-60s strengthening class every week. He’s still lifting. Still gardening. Still kneeling in church.

If you’re wondering whether it’s too late to start strength training, or whether your knees, your age, or your lack of gym experience mean it’s not for someone like you, Phil is your answer.