Weight Training Motivation
We all know that there are multiple benefits to working out, especially as we move into our 60’s and beyond. However, keeping our weight training motivation can be difficult. We all have our different reasons for putting on our gym clothes and stepping into the gym.
Some of you may not have found your motivation at all yet and therefore haven’t experienced the vast array of benefits associated with keeping to a regular exercise routine.
What better way to inspire you to start working out than to share the stories of other people in their 60’s and 70’s who are already weight training.
I recently reached out to the world of social media, asking for people to share their stories with you.
I got a fantastic response from a wide variety of people willing to share their stories. Some only started in the last year or two, others have been gym goers their entire adult life.
There were some common themes that emerged straight away in all 3 categories (weight training motivation, benefits noticed and tips for others). I’ll start by listing the common themes below and then delve deeper into some of the inspirational stories I received.
Common Themes
The themes that were mentioned by multiple people are listed below.
Motivation for Weight Training:
- Stay Healthy
- Stay ‘Trim’
- Be more attractive to others
- Improve mental health
- Avoid restarting previous medications
- Be able to continue with their sporting activities
- Reduce their chance of injury
Benefits Noticed as a Result of Strength Training:
- Stay Healthy
- Stay ‘Trim’
- Be more attractive to others
- Improve mental health
- Avoid restarting previous medications
- Be able to continue with their sporting activities
- Reduce their chance of injury
Tips to Get Started with Lifting Weights:
- Pace Yourself
- Gradually increase intensity of workouts
- Aim for long term results
- Don’t expect results overnight
- Don’t give up at the first sign of soreness or injury
- Use a personal trainer or other professional when appropriate
- Find someone to workout with for accountability
These are all fantastic pieces of feedback and advice. It would be easy to finish this post here and tell you that you should be working out because of all of the above. However, on its own this list isn’t particularly inspiring. You’ve probably seen all of these pieces of advice before.
What make the list dull is the fact that everything has been taken out of context and placed into bullet point format.
For this reason, I want to share with you some of the real people behind their stories.
4 Inspirational Stories from Real People who Workout
1) The Tonyvator– 72 years old
I will start by introducing you to Tony Robertson who is 72 years old.
Meet Tony, who has always been active, having previously participated in Judo, played football and has ran marathons in the past. Generally, he was always involved in sports rather than going to the gym for a work out.
In February of this year (2020) Tony’s brother came over from Australia to stay with him. His brother usually goes to the gym every morning and he managed to drag Tony along with him whilst he was in the UK.
Tony loved the routine and had continued to go to the gym each morning until the gyms were closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
However, this has not stopped Tony from keeping to his morning workout routine. He has taken the initiative and has found items in his garage and garden to allow him to start his daily ‘Garden Workouts’.
Tony and his wife Lis (who films and brilliantly commentates during his videos) have become a viral social media sensation, having been covered by Phil and Holly on This Morning and the BBC amongst other broadcasters.
I spoke to Tony on the phone who generously gave feedback on what motivates him to workout.
Motivation to Workout:
Tony is still doing his garden workouts each morning for 40-60 minutes. He reports that he doesn’t go all out and paces himself with each workout. This ensures the workouts do not feel like a chore but a form of relaxation.
I asked why it is so important to continue to keep up his morning routine now that it’s been established. He gave several reasons including wanting to stay healthy and keep trim but more importantly he talked about the impact it had on his mental health.
“Once I finish my workout and I step out of the shower, I feel like a new man. I feel great for the rest of the day.”
Benefits noticed as a result of strength training:
This wasn’t the only benefit that Tony noticed. He has osteoarthritis in his hands and has noticed his grip strength has significantly improved. He also feels more alert than he used to.
Each morning Tony looks forward to getting up to exercise and really notices the drop in his energy level if he doesn’t workout.
Tips for beginners wanting to start strength training:
Tony has some great tips for anyone getting started.
“Pace yourself! Start light and work your way up slowly. Set realistic goals and then progress them.”
“When it gets hard, stay positive and fight through it”.
Be sure to head over to Twitter and follow @thetonyvator to see more of his brilliant ‘Garden Workouts’.
2) Lifting Weights for a Longer Drive
Scott, who is 74 years old, reached out to me to let me know more about his story.
As opposed to Tony, Scott began lifting weights in high school and has continued to do so since then.
Weight training motivation:
He has always considered himself a mediocre athlete and was motivated to workout in the gym in order to give himself a competitive advantage in the sports that he played. This is still the case to this day.
Benefits of being stronger:
“The advantage in sports is amazing. I still play golf and hit it longer than most 50 year olds. And I play a decent score (80s).”
Scott enjoys amazing people in the gym. They are not expecting him to be able to lift as much as he does, especially his deadlift and bench press.
“Bluntly, I still feel manly. Not a worn out has been. My biceps still bulge some, my legs have definition. I enjoy the feeling of my body working and my muscles being hard when done. And when I am done, I feel more able to meet the world.”
Advice for those new to strength training:
Scott also had some great tips for those thinking of getting started, including…
“Gradually increase your workload. The key is persistence with time. One does not get fit in one session.”
Scott has his own blog about his diet and the effect this has on his body – Jogging Pop
3) Strength Training to Ease Low Back Pain
The star of my next story (76 years old) preferred me not to use his name but was happy for his story to be shared. I’m so glad he got in touch as his story was just the story I was hoping to have received.
Motivation to start lifting weights:
He started lifting weights last year at the age of 75 years old as a last attempt to manage his long-term back pain. Despite being active earlier in his life, doing mainly cardio and bodyweight type exercises, strength training was very new to him.
With the help of a strength and conditioning coach, he established a routine of lifting weights and has never looked back.
Benefits of strength training:
Not only did he notice significant improvements in his low back pain, his LDL cholesterol levels have improved and his body fat has reduced from 23% to 17%
He is able to deadlift 275lbs (125kg), squat 225lb (102kg), bench press 160lb (73kg), overhead press 125lb (56kg) and can now do 12 consecutive pullups.
“My initial goal was to maintain my strength. However, it became obvious to me that at my age I could gain significant strength.”
4) Dr Steven Horwitz
After having heard from someone who has lifted weights for just one year, I want to introduce you to somebody at the other end of the experience spectrum. Meet Dr Steven Horwitz.
Steve has lifted weights competitively throughout his life and continues to do so, despite major surgery at the age of 50.
Steve is now 59 and all the more excited about lifting weights into his 60’s.
“I’ve always enjoyed being fit, especially being strong and looking the part! Even with several bumps in the road! What’s next? Some 60+ records!”
Motivation to start powerlifting
Steve started as a runner, having completed 2 marathons whilst in college. At this point he was doing some upper body weights and prior to college had been doing bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups.
After college, Steve met a friend who was the New Jersey State 220lb powerlifting champion.
“I started learning to really train by going with him. What an education! I started to make progress and met more friends in chiropractic school (quite a few awesome lifters) with whom I trained and learned.”
At this point Steve recalls that competing made him feel great and he loved the environment, whilst also noticing the benefit of an improved dating life.
A bump in the road
He continued to train and compete at a high level until, what Steve refers to as, a ’bump in the road’ came along.
At age 50, Steve needed an esophagectomy (surgical removal of the oesophagus) due to a condition called achalasia, a rare auto immune disease of the oesophagus. This resulted in a stay in intensive care and 5 days in hospital, usually a minimum of 10 days for others with the same procedure.
I asked Steve how not being able to train at his previous level initially after the surgery affected his mental health.
“It really messed with my head. I was told I would never lift (like I had before) again. I had (have) a much younger wife and my son was only 3 at the time and I was told I couldn’t throw him up in the air and catch him. That didn’t work for me”.
Steve had access to amazing people in the rehabilitation and nutrition fields. He was extremely motivated to continue with his exercise routine.
Breaking Records
He eventually started lifting light weights, making progress month after month until he was able to compete in a deadlift competition 2 years later. Steve lifted 475lb (approximately 215kg) at the age of 52 years old and weighing 175lb.
He went on to break the 55-59 year old 82.5kg class deadlift record and became a 2 time Masters Tactical Strength Challenge champion in the spring and the fall of 2016.
Motivation to continue strength training at a high level now
Steve has his eyes set on a new record which he plans to break on his 60th birthday.
When asked ‘what else motivates you to train at a high level?’ Steve responded…
“I want to stay healthy and strong and this is the best way to do it. I see so many people deteriorate before my eyes and it is so sad. I’ve gotten my 78 year-old mother-in-law into weight training (all of 4’10” and 90 lbs). The smile on her face when she lifts big is priceless!”
Beginners advice to start strength training
“Just get started! You must find someone who knows what they are doing because safety always comes first. I made a short video series of an assessment people can use before they get started: ”
For more information on Steve’s story, click here to read an in-depth interview Steve did with Dragon Door.
Twitter Responses
As well as the more in-depth replies I got above, I was also grateful to receive some amazing feedback from others on twitter. Given this post is long enough already I will not post the twitter response here.
However, you can take a look at the full twitter feed by clicking here.
Be sure to follow @never2old2lift on Twitter whilst you are there.
Find Your Weight Training Motivation
I hope this post has given you the confidence that it is never too late and you are never too old to start strength training. It doesn’t matter if you have a setback on the way, Steve has shown that with the right mindset it is possible to get back to a high level again.
I’m not saying that everyone needs to set goals of breaking weight lifting records. You should try and create some personal goals for yourself and find out what will motivate you to start and more importantly, continue to lift weights.
For a beginners guide to strength training principles, make sure you take a look at my post What are Reps and Sets?
Tell me Your Story
I would love to hear some more of your stories. Please comment below with what motivates you to workout and what benefits you have noticed.
You may have noticed that the stories above are male dominated. I would especially love to hear from you if you are a female, older than 60 years old and are currently working out regularly. Please comment below, or even better, send me an email via the Contact page.
4 Responses
These are all great stories! Awesome role models 😉
This is so awesome! :] Thanks for sharing their stories–goes so well with your blog title! I always think of Ernestine Shepherd when it comes to people saying that it’s too late to start strength training!
I hadn’t heard of Ernestine, I have just looked her up and read her story, really inspiring!
I like feeling stronger and more capable doing everyday activities. I know my strength training routine helps me to do that. I hope to continue it as I age