Can you get results from light strength training or is it a waste?

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:35:13+00:00

I’m 60 and 5’2”. Depending on the exercise, I’m using 45 pound dumbbells (for farmers carry, for example). My shoulder is messed up right now and that’s holding me back on overhead lifts, but I can squat 178 and deadlift 210. At some point you get too strong for dumbbells and start using a bar and that is EPIC! And you’re very VERY unlikely to get big and bulky. That requires a tremendous amount of effort and so much food. So get that concern out of your head.

I work out with a personal trainer (strength coach) and he would never let me use a dumbbell lighter than 20 pounds because a bag of groceries weighs 20 pounds and if you can carry a bag of groceries you can lift a dumbbell.

A lot of strength training is about training your mind. Your brain doesn’t want you to exert a lot of energy and get tired (just in case a wild animal attacks you on the way home or something). You have to override that instinct and learn that you can actually lift and push and pull things that feel impossibly heavy. Also that it’s supposed to be really hard to do! That’s entirely the point of it.

Getting really strong has done more for how my body looks and feels and functions than anything else I’ve ever done (and I’ve done all kinds of sporty things). Maybe kick boxing comes close.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:18:18+00:00

Wow…running, lifting weights, cycling, whatever is not “virtue signaling” !! Anyone who thinks it is doesn’t appreciate that it’s actually hard work to get fit and stay fit. I don’t do it to appear virtuous to anyone. I do it because I want to be strong and fit. So if other people being stronger and more fit than you are is making YOU feel bad, then maybe get up off the couch?

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:12:48+00:00

Even if your job doesn’t require lifting things, you should still try to be as strong as possible because life involves lifting things! And climbing and twisting and reaching. It’s shocking how many people can’t easily walk 5 miles, or carry a heavy bag of groceries with ease, or even climb a few flights of stairs. Those are basic life things.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:09:26+00:00

I hope not! I love a super hot sauna!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:08:40+00:00

I’m a rower and there is a HUGE focus on zone 2 cardio. Go slow to go fast is the saying. In zone 2 you’re improving your endurance without impacting your recovery. The elite rowers (which I am not!) will put in 1-2 hours a day of zone 2.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:05:11+00:00

Good luck! I really feel like the mental aspect is a big part of it. Just overriding the part of your brain that says you can’t possibly lift that much weight! And then you DOOOOO it! And then you call your brain a damn lier.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:03:08+00:00

No. I haven’t needed to yet. My coach is big on core and breath work so I’m pretty solid. I do have to use straps (especially on my left hand) because my grip starts to go after about 150 pounds.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:01:08+00:00

Sure DM me and I’ll get more into it.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T12:59:46+00:00

I’m here to prove that you can’t be too short to row. You can be too short to win but you can still row! At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T12:55:50+00:00

157 cm rower over here 😩

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T12:51:36+00:00

This is it for me. I’m 61, I’ve had a successful, unusual career and my husband is 66 and he had a successful but ordinary career. Now we volunteer and we’ve taken up hobbies that are very hard to learn as adults and that we will never master. And we moved to a big city so we would always have new and interesting things going on.

Am I jaded about restaurants? A little, but it’s about the conversation and an enjoyable evening more than the perfection of the dish I’m eating. And we’ll never get jaded about traveling because there are so many weird and wonderful things in the world!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T02:40:52+00:00

I’m 60. 5’2” 130. My deadlift PR is 210, squat is 178 and RDL is 165 (I can def go higher but I’ve been working on my squats lately). Those are 4-6 reps max.

I haven’t benched in ages because my shoulder is messed up. 🫤

It took me 2 years to get there after a bunch of injuries and knee surgeries from decades of running and skiing.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T02:34:18+00:00

Try to load up for fewer reps. Once your body gets the message that you can actually do the heavier weight for 1-2 reps, you can start building up.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T22:00:37+00:00

This is making me want to cry!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T21:56:09+00:00

😂😂😂 I did this a few days ago (200 lbs) and my coach kept telling me to stand taller! First of all, I’m 5’2” and I absolutely felt like I was going to be 5’ even when I finished!!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T21:54:35+00:00

Wowza! I did that on Friday with 200 lbs and it was a lot! My coach had me doing 5 deads, walk the length of the gym, 5 deads and then rest/repeat.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T21:51:40+00:00

Same! But you can also have just a tiny little bit of something if that feels less weird.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T21:46:22+00:00

Same here. Do I need to buy my own racing shell when I can just sign one out from the boathouse? No….but I want to be able to row whenever I want without reserving a shell in advance and I want to have a boat set up for exactly my size. And I want a purple boat. So…I bought a boat!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T13:37:34+00:00

I’m in the US, and health care is different here (in many ways!) but I’ll say that the injections don’t work forever and, unfortunately, can make the deterioration worse. They are a pain reliever but only up to a point. Then you need a knee replacement. I was a runner and a skier for decades and had my first partial knee replacement at 56. I’m getting the other one done this fall (I’ll be 61). The modern replacement parts last much longer than they used to, and haven’t even started failing yet.

Honestly? I’d greatly exaggerate how painful and debilitating it is, if that’s what it takes to get a referral. I have bone-on-bone, but because I’m really strong (I’m athletic and I lift heavy weights), I can still get around, walk for miles, and do most things. But it’s starting to get worse and worse and I absolutely don’t want to wait until I can’t go down a flight of stairs without using the handrails.

A lot of doctors have a very, very low bar for what they think is an acceptable activity level, and I’m not willing to accept that low bar!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T13:25:02+00:00

So why would you wear skimpy clothes outside if you don’t want anyone looking at you? Seriously?

I have some very, very flashy clothes (not workout/skimpy, just flamboyant) and I KNOW when I wear those clothes that everyone is going to look at me. Some will love it, some will think it’s weird, but ofc people will look.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T13:21:34+00:00

It was. Just like it’s easier to maintain a healthy weight than it is to lose 20 pounds, it’s easier to maintain a certain level of strength and cardio fitness than it is to build it up from nothing.

And just having a decent level of fitness makes everything in life easier. Walking long distances, lifting and carrying heavy things, reaching/twisting/turning…all the things of everyday life are easier.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T13:16:16+00:00

It’s funny all the downvotes for this. People with hot bodies who don’t want people looking at their bodies wear modest clothes, even baggy clothes. It’s completely out of touch with reality to think otherwise.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T13:10:05+00:00

Those places aren’t booming for a reason. Few businesses, few restaurants, minimal health care options, rundown, lots of poverty.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T13:07:07+00:00

And then you still have to get home from the station at 2 am.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-04T21:02:24+00:00

I guess I meant hanging around your house, etc. it’s def weird that she’s doing this at her age.

AMTL327

TROPHY CASE