You already use strength every day
Strength you use in an ordinary week:
- Lifting a suitcase into an overhead locker.
- Getting a bag of compost out of the boot.
- Carrying the shopping in from the car in one trip.
- Climbing the stairs with a full laundry basket.
- Getting up off the floor after playing with a grandchild or the dog.
- Holding your swing together on the 17th after four hours on your feet.
You do all of it standing up, often off balance, with the load on one side. Strength training over 40 should prepare you for that list. I call that transferable strength: you build it in the studio and you use it outside.
Transferable strength training in plain terms
Transferable strength training means I choose exercises for what they carry over to. You lift from the floor, carry, push, pull, rotate, get up and down and balance on one leg, and you do some of it fast.
I use heavy weights. A deadlift transfers and so does a loaded carry. I ask one thing of each exercise: what will it do for you outside the studio?
I work from a Dynamic Systems approach. Your movement comes out of your body, the task in front of you and the place you are doing it in. Change one and your movement changes, so you need strength that fits the job.
What strength training over 40 does that few people mention
You will have read that muscle shrinks with age. Strength goes faster. Mitchell and colleagues reviewed the research in 2012 and found that people lose strength two to five times faster than they lose muscle size. You can lose strength before the mirror shows any change.
In 2019 the National Strength and Conditioning Association published a position statement on older adults. It says resistance training counters the loss of strength and muscle, and the effects of that loss on physical function, mobility and independence.
What the evidence says about transfer
In 2005, de Vreede and colleagues trained 98 women aged 70 and over three times a week for 12 weeks. One group did standard resistance exercises and the other practised everyday tasks as exercise. The resistance group got stronger, yet on a test of daily tasks they scored no better than the women who did no training. The task group improved. Nine months later the task group had kept that improvement and the resistance group had lost its strength gains.
In 2024, Stock and colleagues put 30 adults with an average age of 71 through six weeks of training. Half did gym lifts and half did everyday movements in a weighted vest. The lifters improved two to three times more on the lifting tests. The vest group improved more at walking speed and at getting up from a chair and moving off.
Both trials used people in their seventies, thirty years older than some of you reading this, and that limits what I can claim from them. I take one thing from both: you get good at what you train. My clients lift heavy to build strength and practise tasks that look like their lives, so they can use it.
Strength training at Ocean Fitness Poole
We start with how you move and what you need your body for. Sailing out of Poole Harbour and eighteen holes at Parkstone are different jobs, and each gets its own training.
In a session you lift something from the floor, carry something, push or pull something, work on one leg and move something fast. I raise the loads as you get stronger.
David trains here. He sails, skis and cycles. His words: "I feel stronger, more capable, and better prepared, particularly for skiing."
The studio is private, at 1 Victoria Road in Poole, BH12. One trainer, one client. Book a free consultation and we can talk it through.
Common questions about strength training over 40
What is transferable strength training?
Transferable strength training is strength work a trainer chooses for how well it carries over to life outside the gym: lifting, carrying, getting up from the floor and playing sport.
Is it too late to start strength training at 50 or 60?
No. The researchers in the trials above trained people aged 70 and over, and those people improved within 6 to 12 weeks. The National Strength and Conditioning Association's position statement supports resistance training for older adults.
How often do I need to train?
The trials above used two or three sessions a week. Some of my clients train with me once a week. We agree at the consultation what fits your week.
Will strength training help my golf?
Golf asks you to rotate, balance and produce power. Training those under load is transferable strength training for a golfer. I am TPI certified and I assess and train the physical side. I do not replace your golf coach.
References
- de Vreede PL, Samson MM, van Meeteren NLU, Duursma SA, Verhaar HJJ. Functional-task exercise versus resistance strength exercise to improve daily function in older women: a randomized, controlled trial. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2005;53(1):2-10.
- Fragala MS, Cadore EL, Dorgo S, Izquierdo M, Kraemer WJ, Peterson MD, Ryan ED. Resistance training for older adults: position statement from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2019;33(8):2019-2052.
- Mitchell WK, Williams J, Atherton P, Larvin M, Lund J, Narici M. Sarcopenia, dynapenia, and the impact of advancing age on human skeletal muscle size and strength; a quantitative review. Frontiers in Physiology. 2012;3:260.
- Stock MS, et al. Task-specific resistance training adaptations in older adults: comparing traditional and functional exercise interventions. Frontiers in Aging. 2024;5:1335534.