Welcome back to the Run Your Best Life interview series, where I talk to experts in the field on issues affecting Gen X women.
Today, I’m talking with Coach Jen about getting back into strength training when you’re over 50. We’re chatting about some of the challenges and of course some solutions of maintaining a regular strength training routine.
If you have been wanting to start strength training or are struggling to get back into it, this episode is for you.
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- The benefits of strength training
- The challenges of maintaining a strength training program and how to overcome these challenges
- Some simple ways to start incorporating strength training into your life
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
Jill:Welcome to The Run Your Best Life edition of the Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a GenX woman whose brain still feels like a member of the breakfast club but the person you see in the mirror is starting to look a lot like your parents, you are in the right place. I’m your host, Jill Angie and we’re gonna dive into all the weird shit Gen X women are facing right now, so you feel less alone and a lot more empowered. Are you ready? Let’s fucking go!
Hello my friends! This week on the podcast I’m talking with Coach Jen about getting back into strength training when you’re over 50. We’re chatting about some of the challenges and of course some solutions. And of course if you’re a Run Your Best Life member, we’ll be spending the whole month of April talking about strength training, so this is your starting point! Are you ready? Let’s dive in!
All right, my friends, I am here with the one and only coach Jen Lamplough, and we are here to talk about one of the self care things that most women avoid over 50, and that is strength training. Jen is nodding her head over there. So Jen, you’ve done strength training in the past and you’ve kind of, what would you say you’ve taken a little break recently?
Jen: But yeah, I would say like, since like probably since COVID hit, like on and off during COVID, but like, It’s been, I haven’t had sort of a regular routine since, since like, I would say probably like mid 2020, so we’re going on, we’re going on a couple of years now here and like, I, it’s, I, it’s so interesting how I have seen the effects of not having the regular strength training on my life in so many ways but especially as I am getting older and going to be 50 in a couple months.
Jill: Yeah. So what are some of those effects? Because I think you know, if someone has never strength trained before they might just think like, Oh, it’s just normal for me to feel this way, but you’ve got like a before and after, so to speak of like what it’s like to train regular and so do I, to be, to be frank.
So what are some of the effects that you’ve seen?
Jen: Some of it is just like general stamina. You know, I’m a, I’m a person who is always moving, you know, I worked in, you know, I was always on my feet, you know, and now I, the new job that I have in the last two and a half years, I am more sedentary because I’m like in more meetings and strategy planning and all this stuff.
And so I’m more sedentary that I’ve ever been at work in my life. And so I think that coupled with not doing the strength training has caused joint pain that I’ve never had before. Knee pain that I’ve never had before. Like it’s hard in the morning when I get up, like my body is sore in a way that’s not like good sore, not like good, like workout sore.
Like it’s like, I’m having trouble, like getting my legs sort of like moving in the morning and my ankles and my lower back, like my lower back, I’ve never had back issues and like my lower, like I’ll be cooking and I’ll be in the kitchen, you know, for an hour or two. And like, I was like, gosh, my lower back is hurting.
Like that’s never happened to me before. I’ve never had that kind of like pain, like physical pain before. And then I think the like mental part of it is also I I’ve, I’ve never been a person who has been like, Oh, I can’t do that. Like something physical. Like I just have always been like, Oh yeah, I can do that.
And now I have moments where I’m like, Ooh, I like, I can’t do it. I’m not strong enough to do that anymore. And that does not feel good. Let me tell you.
Jill: Yeah, I bet. I bet. Especially, you know, a lot of people would say, Oh, well, you know, it’s probably perimenopause. And like there may be some contributing factors, but you know what your body felt like, you know, three or four years ago when you were strength training regularly.
And it really like, it’s not just about being strong. It’s about feeling good and confident in your body’s strength and the whole, like the waking up, like, if you have to get up in the middle of the night, like, this is what I always do. I wake up, I stand up and then I just stand there for like a moment or two while I feel like all of the systems are coming back.
Jen: Yep. Yep. It just like, does not want to like, doesn’t want to kick in, you know, jump out of bed. And I’ve never been a person who jumps out of bed. Like, I like to, I like to lounge in bed for a bit before I have to get up, like I’ve never been a jump out of bed kind of person, but like once I was mentally ready to go out of bed, it was never my body that was the issue. It was always my brain. I wanted to stay in bed and now it’s my body. I was like, I’ve got to like And like, like work my way up to it and kind of hoist myself out. I’m like, this is not, this does not feel good.
Jill: Yeah. It does not. It does not. And I, I, I think that, you know, when you’re in a good strength training routine and you’re feeling the benefits or whatever, you kind of take it for granted. And then when you stop, you’re, and I found this, like I stopped for, for a bit. And after a few months I was like, Whoa, what is happening? Like it felt, it just felt like everything was like breaking down and I’m like, Oh, it’s because I stopped lifting heavy. Although I don’t think you need to lift heavy to feel good, but I feel like there’s a lot of challenges and resistance to strength training for women, especially women over 50.
And I’m just curious. So why would you say you stopped your routine?
Jen: I don’t know. I stopped a lot of routines and you know, I went through, you know, it wasn’t necessarily because of COVID, but during COVID time, I went through a lot of life changes and you know, COVID happened. And then I, you know, I separated from my husband and then I got COVID and was really, really sick and It took me a long time to recover from the first time I had COVID. It was pre vaccines. I was in the hospital for a week. I wasn’t on a ventilator, but it was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life and it was really like physically and mentally hard and it took me a long time to come back from that.
And then I took this new job so I have like a high level job now at my work. And then I like bought a house and moved my 85 year old mom in with me. Like, so I, and it all sounds like excuses and it is, but it’s just, it was one of those things where I just prioritized all the other stuff because I, it was all I could do.
You know, it was all I could do in the moment for myself. So I’ve had sporadic moments of being back at it and then something comes up and then that’s the first thing to go. Cause I haven’t, I haven’t quite, you know, built that habit deeply enough yet where it’s not the thing that I want to sacrifice.
Jill: I mean, that makes sense too, right?
Like COVID happened, all the gyms shut down and then you got to figure out an alternative plan and then, okay, like your marital status changed and then you got sick and then it, it does take a while. So I think, you know, life happens and, and I think that’s a pretty normal thing. Like a lot of us have ebbs and flows when it comes to our fitness life because we were trying to fit it in with the rest of our lives.
But when it comes time to get started again, that’s when a lot, there’s usually a lot of resistance. It’s like, Oh, it’s so hard. I don’t have time and so forth. And would you say that you’re experiencing any of that now as you try to restart your routine?
Jen: Totally. And I think it’s the, it’s the, the chicken, it’s the chicken or the egg too.
Like my body feels not great. And so then I don’t want to get up in the morning and work out, but we’re getting up in the morning and working out is going to make my body feel better. But it’s that it’s, it’s hard to, to, to get that going when you, when I, like my body does not feel great. I mean, it really is like weird pains. and lack of flexibility. Like I have no flexibility right now. And I don’t know if that’s the perimenopause or what, but I’m like, Oh my God, I am so inflexible. It’s unreal.
Jill: I do. And I do think it’s a little bit perimenopause and a little bit not moving as much. Right. Yeah. And then, you know, it, it’s interesting because strength training also increases our flexibility.
Yeah. Not in the same way.
Jen: You know, keeps the muscle, you know, keeps the joints in place ’cause your muscles are strong and you know, like I’ve noticed a knee pain that I’ve never noticed, like going downstairs is hard and like, I, it’s, it’s, I’ve never had that before.
Jill: So one of the things we’ve been talking about on the podcast is how self care, especially in your fifties, looks like taking responsibility and ownership and like prioritizing your mental and physical wellbeing, even when it’s uncomfortable and difficult. And I kind of feel like strength training is one of those things that’s like, yeah, it’s like the least sexy self care, but also It really makes a difference.
So like, what are some of the, so some of the challenges you’ve had are, you know, waking up in the morning and feeling like my body hurts, so I don’t want to do it. But of course the reason my body hurts is because I’m not doing it. So how are you addressing that?
Jen: I think some of it is I’m, I’m starting to work out in the evening again.
I used to always work out in the evening and then I became a morning person and I always worked out in the morning. But like, I think part of it too, Like mornings to me are for running, you know, and like, so I, and I, man, I haven’t been running either. And so I, I like doing strength training at night. And so I’ve, so I’ve re-signed up at my gym with my old trainer and he has this bootcamp class.
And I re-signed up for that and I, I have been going pretty regularly and then something came up and I got, you know, there was the holidays or something, you know, happened and I got off my routine and I just haven’t gotten back into it. And, you know, I have, I have. My son who’s almost nine and I have my mother who’s almost 86.
I call them my bookends, but they’re, it’s kind of like having two children really. And I have been trying to figure out the balance between being able to go to the gym in the evening and spending time with both of them and being there for both of them. And it was, you know, it’s not even been a year yet that my mom moved in with us and we’ve had a lot of adjustments around expectations and the level of care she needs.
And so we’ve been having this sort of balancing act of trying to figure out what works for all of us. And I think we’re there. Like, I think we’ve gotten to the point where like, she understands my life. I understand her better. And you know, my son is getting to the age where, you know, he’s a little more independent and that sort of thing so I feel like. I can get, I can start to get back into that evening routine and sort of like give up that time with them so I can have it for myself.
And the other thing is that I’m dating and I’m dating a person, you know, a guy kind of semi seriously and our time is limited together. And so like one of the nights I want to go to class is the nights that I normally go out with him and I’m like, Oh, I don’t want to give up any time with him because we have very, you know, he has kids. I have kids, you know, we have wives, we’re, you know. Our time is pretty limited and so it’s been making that choice of you know, how I want to spend my time
Jill: I think that is the hard choice too because you know, you have all these things in your life that you want to keep going with right you want, you know, obviously you want to continue spending time with your son and your mom and you’ve got your job and you’ve got your significant other. But then also you’re like, but I’m gonna enjoy those things so much more if my body feels better, right?
especially, you know, like when you’re with your significant other and you’re just like Hey, things don’t, I got to put too fine a point on it. But like, right. My leg doesn’t go that way anymore. When like your knees don’t hurt or whatever. So yeah, it’s interesting. So I think like, and again, I feel like self care I I’ve been really noodling about this concept that self care is not actually a bunch of actions. It is it is a mindset. It is a belief system, right? Drives the actions. And sometimes you’re going to prioritize one thing and sometimes you’re going to prioritize another.
But how, cause I feel like, okay, so, so here you are, like you’ve signed up for this class, but now the days of the class conflict with self care specific things that you want to keep in your life. So what is the response to that? Like, how do you work through that?
Jen: Well, one of the things is I’m going to try to get my significant other to go to the class with me on Saturday mornings. So because it’s like at 9:30 in the morning on Saturday, which isn’t late, which isn’t early, but you know, when we’re lounging and having coffee and, you know, that sort of thing, it feels, it feels like you have to like get up and go somewhere.
And so. But I’m going to see if he’ll go with me because then that’s something we can do together. Something we have been doing together is walking. So that’s, I, I, you know, I just, it’s a way to spend time together, but also to move our bodies. And he’s a great, he walks all the time. He has a dog and he walks a lot, but I’ll, I’ll be like, can you come walk with me? And he always says yes which is so great. And so like, he’ll come walk with me and that’s, so we’ve been doing that pretty regularly too, which helps. So trying to like incorporate, you know, the people that I want to spend time with, with that activity too is helpful because then I can, you know, kind of kill two birds with one stone.
Jill: Yeah. And, and everybody benefits from it. Right. It’s not just you at that point. Like everybody’s going to benefit. Yeah. I love that.
Yeah. So like, what are, what are some of the thoughts that you’ve had as you get back into strength training that that you’ve had to work on?
Jen: Most of it is around like the time and not like, you know, as, as I’ve been working with you since 2016, you know, working on the mindset around the, like, what should I be doing versus like what I want to do to feel better and that whole, like, should mindset and like, well, I should be doing this and I should be doing that. It just makes me not want to do it and it’s just sort of this inner, inner resistance to something that I quote unquote should be doing. I just don’t want to do it. And so changing that mindset of like, yeah, I really should be working out regularly. Changing that mindset to like, I really want to strength train because I want to age well.
And, you know, I’ve always said this as we’ve done strength training things together, you know, strength training is the key to aging well. I used to say it’s the key to anti aging, but like, there’s no anti aging. We’re going to age, you know, if we’re lucky, we’re going to age, right? Like, you know, I want to live a long, healthy life and I want to be, I want to be active and able to do the stuff I want to do and I don’t want to ever say no to something that I want to do because my body can’t do it. Like to me, that’s the worst possible scenario. And so my mindset has shifted from like, I really need to get back into my workout routine and I really need to figure out a time to work out and I really should do this and I really should do that to like, I want to do this so that I can age well and I could be, I could do the stuff that I want to do.
Jill: Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Well, would you say that that’s kind of like your self care mission statement? A thousand percent. Yeah. Okay. So say it again for me, because I’ve been like, you know, we obviously this month in run your best life, we’ve been working on self care mission statements and I shared mine in the podcast that came out last week.
But what I like say yours again, because I want to, I want to have as many people sharing their self care mission statements. So people can start thinking about their own.
Jen: Yeah. Yeah. I want, I want to, especially strength train, but also just like kind of workout and like have a regular workout routine, like that part of my self care life. I want to do that so that I can age well, so that I will age. Well, that’s, that’s my biggest thing. You know, I have some other self care things. I’ve been sort of rediscovering my love of art and my like to actually create art. And I’ve always loved art and been in the art community. But I stopped creating art a long time ago. Cause when I was a kid, when people would ask me what I wanted to be, when I grew up, I would always say I wanted to be an artist and then somewhere along the line, either my dad told me I couldn’t do it because it didn’t make money or, you know somebody told me that I wasn’t good at it or whatever and I just, I stopped doing it. And my significant other is an artist and he has gotten me back into creating art and I realized how much I love it and how good it is for me and how It like affects my mental health in a really significant way. And so that’s sort of the other part that I’m delving into is like, not only creating art, but like, how do I incorporate more art into my life? Kind of in general. Yeah. And so that’s for like my, my like emotional and mental wellbeing. So my physical wellbeing is the strength training specifically, but also just having a regular workout routine. And then. You know, cultivating this art habit and art infusion in my life.
Jill: I love that though. And sometimes it’s hard to, to make time for things.
So here’s an example. Like I’ve I started writing a novel and I’m really enjoying it. And also I never make time for it. And it’s funny because I, when I start doing it. I like it and I have fun and, but I will find myself scrolling Facebook and sitting there thinking I should be working on my novel. I should get up and go work on my novel.
And then I, and I actually, I don’t do it, but when I actually like make the time, so what I’ve done, minimum baselining my way through this whole novel, I’m writing for 20 minutes a day and it’s like, oh, it feels so good. It’s like good for my soul to do it, but I think like a lot of self care is. Creating the space, like having Being able to say to yourself, no, I’m going to take the time to do this, even though I might need to prioritize something else, or even though I need to put down this activity that’s like captured my attention, you know, Facebook whatever, and just decide, like, I don’t want to do this mindless thing right now.
I want to do something that I know is going to bring me joy. And that’s hard. That’s hard to do.
Jen: Especially when the things that capture our attention, like Facebook or Instagram are literally created to do that. Like they are created to make us stay engaged. It’s not that they’re so beneficial to us or that it’s so even interesting.
Some of it’s interesting, some of it’s stupid and weightless and, but it’s, it’s created to hold our attention in a way that makes time go by really, really fast. And that’s been part of my problem too, like in the evenings, because again, I’m never alone anymore because I have my, my, my bookends at home.
And so when they go to bed, like there’s this thing, it’s this, like this, like the, the night, the sleep procrastination, because you want to like do some stuff that you don’t get to do when you’re, you know. When you’re having to be engaged. And so like part of my thing is scrolling, flipping Instagram reels, you start on Instagram reels and you’re an hour in and you don’t even realize it.
Jill: You’re like, what just happened? Yeah.
Jen: What’s just, yeah. Why is it 11 o’clock? Like what just happened? Yeah. And so habit number one that I want to break is that I really want to sort of like disengage from like over social media, like over social media. You can come to my life, you know?
Jill: So I think, and I think a lot of people would say like, Oh, scrolling on social media, that is self care because it’s giving yourself a break and it’s giving you time for yourself or whatever.
And I’m like, actually, I don’t think it is. I think it’s the opposite. Right.
Jen: Agree. Yep. Totally disagree with that. I would just, you know, whoever’s saying that it’s self care cause it’s, it’s a suck. Right?
Jill: If you need a break, if you need a distraction, I say just sit and stare. I feel like sitting and staring, and this is, I’m so guilty of scrolling Instagram. I, I’m a, I’m on it a lot less now, but I just feel like sitting and staring is, A way more productive use of your time than like scrolling social media. But of course, when you sit and stare, you have to be present with your own brain, which has a lot of opinions and thoughts. And you’re like, I’m bored. I don’t want to do this anymore.
This is uncomfortable and dah, dah, dah, dah. Which are similar to the thoughts we have about strength training. So yeah, I just,
Jen: you know, I love James Clear and the book Atomic Habits, and I love his newsletter that he does his three, two, one newsletter. That’s the weekly newsletter. Yeah. And you know, this is about your point of just sitting and staring and one of the things that he shared in this week’s newsletter is that the reason people get good ideas in the shower, it’s because the, it’s the only time during the day when most people are away from screens long enough to think clearly. And the lesson is not to take more showers, but rather to make more time to think,
Jill: Oh my gosh.How great is that? I love that. And you know, so that’s interesting because I wonder why that. That’s like, I have some of my best ideas when I am either driving or walking or running. Right.
Jen: And like, cause you’re not distracted. Yeah. Your brain’s allowed to work and think in the way that it’s supposed to and, you know, there’s a lack of good ideas these days.
And I really attribute that to You know, everything’s a remake of a movie or you know, a remake of an old show. Like there’s really a true lack of original ideas in a lot of ways. And so I think that’s a huge part of it. And so, yeah, kind of part one for me is to really, and I know people are like, Oh, I don’t like social media cause I don’t like comparing myself to others. I don’t care about that. That doesn’t, I know everything, you know, I have a really good cat videos on Instagram, fricking cat videos. I can’t. Like I could look at cat videos all flippant and recipes like I hate to bake, but I love watching people bake It’s like and so the baking and the baking videos and the cooking videos like I could just watch them all day yeah, and you know, I just I I I really want to stop and I feel like I’m getting dumber because of it too, because I haven’t been reading as much and I haven’t been, you know, I scroll the news, I scroll the headlines, I don’t actually read anything.
And so like, I feel like I’m getting a little dumber because of it too, which as we age, we need to keep our brains engaged in a way that keeps them like bright and live and like being able to think and, you know, have some, you know, Cognitive reasoning and so, you know, getting dumber does not help when you get older either because I mean, I’m just, I’m, I have points where I’m like, I can’t remember that what that word is that I’m trying to get out and it’s, that’s not a good feeling either.
Jill: That is menopause girl. That is, oh, but you know, it’s funny. It happened to Andy the other day. He was trying to think of a word and it was like. I’m like, you know, that like, this is what happens to me all the time. And like, sometimes he kind of like bugs me, like ribs me a little bit. Yeah. And he’ll be like do I need to call like the dementia specialist? I’m like, I’ll get there. I’ll get there. And it happened to him the other day. And I was like, ha,
Jen: doesn’t feel too good. Does it?
Jill: Welcome to your forties, buddy. Yup. Yeah.
Jen: And I don’t want to get dumber. I want to get smarter, you know?
Jill: Well, and I think that, first of all, I think strength training actually, You know, because it increases blood flow throughout your body, it’s going to increase blood flow to your brain.
And it just, I don’t know, like, I do feel like since I haven’t been, since I haven’t been working with a trainer and I haven’t been as regular with strength training, I do feel like it’s not just my body that’s suffered. It is 100 percent my mind that has suffered. So yeah.
So before we wrap it up real quick, how do you, what do you think are some ways that we can make. entering a strength training routine easier for people who are either coming back to it or, or starting out, especially over 50.
Jen: I think like joining a class because doing strength training on your own, I think a lot of the resistance from people, they’re like, I just don’t know what to do. Like, you know, like, I just don’t like I even walk up to the machines and like, I just, I don’t really know what to do.
So like joining a class, I think is really helpful because you’re in it with other people and it’s. It’s more enjoyable. It goes faster. If you’re a person who is just not into classes, then maybe, you know, finding a virtual class that you can do in the privacy of your own home so you don’t have to actually be with other people but you can sort of have that same feeling like an online class or not, you know, a video strength training video, I think is good. I think those, those are two ways to kind of start. And again, it doesn’t, you know, you don’t have to go from zero to, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or, you know, you go from like zero to adding one thing, you know, like I’m just gonna, I’m gonna, I’m going to find a class. Like you don’t even have to go yet. Like just find the class, you know, or I’m going to find the video I want to do. Or if you need weights at home, like I’m going to, you don’t have to buy a whole weight set, like buy, buy, buy dumbbells, buy five pound dumbbells and start there.
You know, you can get those at Marshall’s for nothing. You know, and just, and start there. It doesn’t have to be, you know, we like to like get all the equipment. And then we’re going to do it. And you know, I’ve always said this, like the tool is not the strategy. I have a Peloton sitting in my basement that will tell you the truth of that.
The tool is not the strategy. The strategy has to be what are the baby steps that I’m going to take. Minimum baseline, what we call it in our group. The very minimum you can do to just get started.
Jill: Well, and speaking of the Peloton, I feel like the Peloton app, even if you don’t have a bike, you can still join the app for like 20 bucks a month or something.
And that plus the minimum baseline go well together because you can go on the Peloton app and just grab a 10 minute routine and like start with that and or a five minute routine, right. It does not have to be a ton of time. And I think it’s an easy way to kind of like get back into it. And you’ve got somebody telling you what to do and there’s body weight one. So if you, you don’t even have to get weights if you don’t want to. So
Jen: I think people hear strength training and they think like the meathead room in the gym with all the weights, like you don’t have, you don’t have to ever step foot in there. I like going in there because I like lifting heavy weights and I like that my gym is like a reality show.
So I like, I love going to it cause it’s like really old school. It’s been there forever. Like it’s a local townie gym. It’s so great. So I love going cause it’s hilarious. And I of course like looking at cute guys, but I, I, but it doesn’t have to mean that it literally could be your bedroom or your basement or, you know, your sidewalk. I mean, I used to do strength training in my driveway.
Jill: Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining me with this conversation today, because I think there’s a lot of women that are exactly like you right now. Like I want to do this. I want to increase my, my physical wellbeing and also how the fuck do I make it happen?
So, yeah. So if you’re listening to this and you’re identifying with it, you’re not alone and we got you. So, all right.
Jen: Thanks for having me.
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