Nanaimo, B.C.-based fitness trainer Ruby Smith Díaz has noticed more women of all ages looking to build muscle, whether they’re weightlifting solo at the gym or working out with resistance bands at home.David Markwei
When Tenny Manook started lifting in the gym as a teen, she was always the only woman in the weight room: “Just me and a bunch of dudes.” Without a lot of resources available, she would slapdash her workout together by surreptitiously watching the dudes’ training sessions and swiping their moves.
After a long hiatus, the 49-year-old real estate agent in Toronto recently returned to her gym routine to feel stronger and happier – and she’s no longer the only woman in there.
With menopause and its myriad associated changes being more widely talked about, there’s been an increased focus on how women in midlife work out. While concerns that women will lose all muscle mass if they don’t spend their 40th birthday in the gym are overblown, what is true is that strength training helps with everything from bone density and weight management to osteoarthritis and anxiety.
Strength training is any exercise that builds muscle. That includes lifting with barbells or free weights, machines, resistance bands or just your body weight. Pilates counts, and so does heavy gardening. What’s important is consistency and progressive overload, which means a slow and steady increase in the weights or intensity of your workout over time.
Nanaimo, B.C.-based fitness trainer Ruby Smith Díaz has noticed more women of all ages looking to build muscle, with many seeking ways to do it sustainably.
“I think that the mainstream fitness industry has a tendency to not acknowledge that people live with conditions like arthritis, for example, that can inhibit or sometimes impact their ability to show up in a high-intensity workout as is advertised to us,” she says.
“That can be a really big turnoff for a lot of people or leave a lot of people feeling ashamed of what they’re able to do. I really think that we need to get rid of this ‘no excuses’ culture because it is actually not realistic, and it leaves a lot of people behind.”
Finding a routine that works
At 30, mental health struggles left Manook feeling unable to exercise; she stopped for 15 years. “I used to dream about swimming. I missed it so much. I tried to go back many times, but life just didn’t work out the way it should,” she says. Then a staycation last January at a hotel with a pool reignited her love of swimming, which eventually led to her lifting weights again at the Y. She’s seeing and feeling the results.
“It makes you feel strong,” she says. “It reminds you what you’re capable of. I think working out has always been a bit of an antidepressant in my life. When I couldn’t work out it completely changed my brain chemistry. It’s a lifeline for sure.”
These days, Manook works around her “terrible” knees, sore feet and lower back pain, so things like squats, deadlifts and running are off the table. But swimming, biking and her beloved chest-flies are a go.
Adapting your training to your body’s needs can mean trying a variety of workouts until you find the right ones. After having health complications and three kids in four years, Suzie Forand, a 54-year-old executive assistant in Montreal, started running to lose weight. That eventually led to Crossfit which led to “obsessive” boxing, taking 7 am classes that kept her wired well past 8 pm. Last year when she noticed weight inexplicably returning, she says her doctor informed her that her cortisol levels were way too high, telling her: “You gotta calm down and choose something that won’t induce so much stress.”
Forand decided to poke her head into the gym right near her home that offers calisthenics, a form of strength training that uses your body weight as resistance, like push-ups, squats, chin-ups, burpees and planks.
Despite being the oldest person in the room, she immediately fell in love with the gym’s vibe and classes. The appeal for her with cali (as its devotees call it) is the technique. “It works with my brain to say, you’ve got to do this perfectly.”
And while Forand used to get her satisfaction from watching the number on the scale go down, now she gets it from noticing when exercises that were once difficult get easier and knowing that she’s taking care of her future self. “I don’t want to spend my time in a hospital,” she says.
Where to start
You don’t need a big setup, says Smith Díaz. There’s a lot you can do at home with resistance bands or a set of weights between three to 10 pounds.
If you’re doing it without a trainer or class, look at online resources to guide you. Smith Díaz is a huge fan of Jason and Lauren Pak, an American duo with a large resource library on YouTube, and Foundations by Tracy, a physiotherapist and kinesiologist.
If you’re wanting to work with trainer, and you have specific needs and abilities, make sure to ask them questions, she says, such as: “What is your experience working with people over the age of 40? What is your experience working with people who have arthritis? What is your approach to encouraging people when obstacles show up or who are having trouble committing to a training program?”
Smith Diaz also recommends everyone supplement their strength training with other forms of movement: “Mobility to help you get the most out of every workout and help make your joints feel a lot happier. Balance for fall prevention, and to stay focused in your workout. Agility, to support our ability to move around obstacles quickly and efficiently, and cardio training, starting with 20 minutes of a fast-paced walk a few times a week and then building your way up.”
And you don’t have to do it alone. “Finding your class, finding your community, finding your people is really key,” she says. If one class or instructor leaves you feeling like you or your body has failed, then that class isn’t for you. “But if you leave a class feeling celebrated, feeling excited to come back, then you know that you’ve found your jam.”
Manook prefers working out alone so she can customize her routine the way her body needs based on her mood and energy levels that day. But lately she loves seeing other women of all ages lifting weights beside her.
“It’s really heartwarming,” Manook says. “I keep thinking of my teen self who would be amazed to see this. I think it’s really nice where we’ve landed.”