Issue #14. Is strength training really the answer to menopause joint pain and better ageing?
Crone Ann Blackburn (Brighton) and Crone Juzza (Sheffield) investigate. Features Crone PT Catherine Duffy (66), 'Girls, Gays and Theys' and Strength Trainee Rosie Dickson.
A recent report from Powerlifting in Data shows women account for 30% of first-time powerlifting competitors. What’s more, women aged 61 to 70 are one of the fastest growing age brackets. In other words, the crones are smashing it!
Well, some are. Sadly, you’re still more likely to find me in the early bar, rather than lifting a heavy one, and my current PB is pulling my jeans up without falling over.
But that’s before we wrote this issue! 💪🏼
Now, at the tender age of 53 with the grating hips and knees of an octogenarian, I’m absolutely determined to give it a go! And don’t get me started on the science bit.
Over to you, Crone Ann! 👇🏽
The Science bit.
Thanks Juzza! Let’s start with some hard facts.
Post-menopause, a lack of oestrogen leads to muscle loss and reduced bone density. As we are all learning, our capacity to perform everyday activities diminishes and we can become prone to injury.
Physical incapacity can impact mental health as confidence plummets and the social benefits of an active life begin to fall away.
But here’s the good news. Research shows ‘strength training’ could be a game-changer.
Stronger muscles support joints and can reduce joint pain.
Strength training improves bone density and can reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
Word.
So, what is ‘strength training’?
Strength training uses weights, weight machines or your own body weight to create resistance and strengthen muscle.
Examples of strength training include: Yoga and Pilates, lifting weights, using resistance bands and exercises like squats, planks and push-ups.
Before we go any further, let’s clear up any confusion about terminology. Terms like strength training, resistance training and weight training can often be interchangeable, although historically, the weight training vibe has been more about aesthetics than strength.
‘Bodybuilding’, on the other hand, is ALL about the aesthetic – so put all thoughts of bodybuilding to one side. You are NOT going to look like Arnie. Unless you want to. Obvs.
Here are some cheering facts.
💪🏼 A 2023 study showed strength training can be more effective than aerobic activity in reducing glucose in the bloodstream - a particular benefit to those with diabetes.
💪🏼 Findings published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2022 found older adults were 41-47% less likely to suffer premature death when they combined lifting weights with aerobic activities like running and swimming.
💪🏼 A meta-analysis of 30 clinical trials published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2018 found a reduction in depression in those who do strength training at least twice a week.
That’s the science bit over. Back to you, Juzza!
Rosie’s story.
I first heard the term ‘strength training’ two years ago when I was looking for women in midlife with inspiring stories to share at our Crone Spoken Library. That’s how I met Crone Rosie Dickson, who became one of our ‘human books’. Rosie started strength training in her 50’s when she had ‘tried everything’ to help with her peri-menopausal symptoms, and lifting weights was the only thing that worked.
Rosie’s story is the first audio book in our new ‘Crone Digital Library’. Huge thanks to Crone Dr Pam Mckinney for supporting us with this. Over the next year, we aim to release edited recordings from the Crone Spoken Library event we held back in 2022 - conversations where older women shared their lived experience with younger women.
👉 You can download and listen to one of Rosie’s Crone Spoken Library conversations at your leisure here (opens new window to Soundcloud).
It was recorded live in 2022 on handheld devices in a noisy tent, so apologies for the quality in places!
If listening isn’t your thing, here’s a few key takeaways from Rosie’s conversations at our Crone Spoken Library back in 2022. 👇🏽
“I had been going through peri-menopause for a few years. I was 52 and feeling pretty lousy really. I had aching limbs. I was really tired, I was low in mood, low in energy, feeling quite anxious about random things, with a real sense of foreboding. I grew up with two dads, and I'd lost both my dads in a ten month period. So I was also going through grief, which is a usual experience when you reach your fifties.
I was trying medications through the GP, but nothing was really helping. I wanted to do something that wasn't medication-based about all my peri-menopause symptoms.”
Do you need to come from a sporty background?
“I don't come from a background of exercise. My parents didn't play any sport and I was dyspraxic as a child, so I’d had a terrible experience of PE at school. But then I was feeling so bad, I forced myself to take a little step…”
Getting started…find your tribe.
“I found a strength training class for women only for over 40s. The classes were great, and working out with other women, that age group of women, was just fantastic. It was so supportive.
And we were all in the same position. We were all a bit nervous about these barbells and these plates, and dropping them on our toes. And could we lift them? Would we hurt our back? We all had these sort of conversations during the classes. And we formed a really good bond over that period. Lack of confidence, and then actual, gradual improvement!”
How do you keep motivated when, in peri-menopause, you’re so lacking in energy?
“I paid for six weeks up front, so I was definitely going to do those six weeks because I paid for it! Once I'd done those six weeks, I suppose I was into a routine then. I'd managed to make it work with my work hours and my home commitments.
It's so easy, isn't it, to slip into thinking, ‘I've got no energy, what am I doing?’ But I went with the kind of mental agreement to myself that I will go and do this, work as hard as I can and then I'll come home and have a nap. But then when I came home and then I didn't actually need a nap because I was on a high!
I've also been really inspired by looking at videos online of women lifting weights in their 60s, 70s and 80s. I was looking at this video just a few days ago of a woman who's 85. The fact that she's lifting weights at 85 means that she's less likely to have a fall, her balance will be better, she's more likely to be carrying her own shopping in and out of the car. There's so much more you can do as an older woman if you are strong.”
Moving on…finding a suitable Personal Trainer (PT).
“I started feeling, this is actually really good for me, and my symptoms are starting to reduce. But I wanted to do more. So I then got a one-to-one coach. Having a coach was really, really helpful because then I could start focusing on my own goals.”
Owning your space in a ‘real’ gym.
“I've done so much research into different gyms, and then I checked them out on social media to get a feel for what was going to be okay for me and what wasn't. But I would never have predicted that I would have ended up at the gym I'm at now.
Before walking in, I was really nervous, I was thinking I'm going to be the oldest person in there, AND I'm a woman. What am I going to do to get myself in there? But I've got a friend who I met on Twitter, who is an online coach, and she's in Australia.
And I sent her a little Twitter video saying, ‘I'm about to channel you! Because I knew by just bringing her to mind, it would help me because I could pull out that other side of me, the side of me that is confident and does feel good and does feel strong. You've just got to find these little techniques that bring it back.
It's women to women support, isn't it? She's a really huge support to me, just because she wants to support other women. So I'm going to take that, and if I can pass that on to another woman, you know, I'd really love to.
It's amazing, but I would never have gone from where I was, to going into that gym as a 52 year old woman, conscious of my weight, conscious of my weakness, and feeling really, really rubbish about myself. So that would have been impossible. But what I did was a little step. And I would say that's the really key thing: to identify what can you do that will just shift you one little bit further on. Don't worry about the long term picture so much because that can feel so daunting, it can put you off.
I must say I've stopped walking around looking at the floor. I can now walk in looking up and smiling and looking like yeah, I'm here and I'm entitled to be here. This is a place for me.”
‘Girls, Gays and Theys’ - a Crone PT’s story.
Finding the right environment where you feel comfortable starting out, is something that World Champion Powerlifter and Crone Personal Trainer, Catherine Duffy felt so passionately about, that she created her own club.
Our Crone Correspondent Ann went to meet her to find out more…
If you want living proof of the crone years being an opportunity to break free of the shackles of traditional work, reinvent yourself and slip into something more authentic, here she is – and she’s sitting at my kitchen island!
66-year-old Catherine Duffy is AWPC (Amateur World Powerlifting Championships) World Champion Best Master Lifter 2024 and holder of British and World records for squats, bench press and deadlifts, as well as offering one-to-one sessions and running the weekly ‘Girls, Gays and Theys’ powerlifting club in Brighton.
Catherine lights up when I ask how strength training and powerlifting has changed her life.
“It’s a love affair – a love affair that my partner supports me in wholeheartedly. I appreciate now who we are professionally isn’t necessarily who we ARE. I was lost when I stopped work and completely rebuilt my life in a different way. [Strength training and powerlifting] made me feel empowered and allowed me to use the communication and coaching skills I’d learned over the years. It’s so life-affirming and the mental health benefits are significant.
“When I’m training, what’s happening in the world becomes completely irrelevant. It still feels new and exciting – and physically, I’m more capable of stuff than I’ve been in decades.”
Wind back to lockdown in 2020 though, and powerlifting couldn’t have been further from Catherine’s mind. Out of work after a high-flying career in social services, she was unfit, overweight and feeling low. Determined to get her life back on track, she started walking and was soon clocking up 10 to 15 miles a day.
PE with Joe Wicks became a firm favourite with the whole family and Catherine signed up to Joe’s 90 Day Plan.
“I bought dumbbells and got a huge buzz from seeing my progress, then came a barbell and a PT and I fell in love with lifting heavy stuff,” she says.
Catherine also trained as a PT herself, and became a passionate advocate for older women’s rightful place in the gym:
“We belong there more than younger people who can afford to take their bodies for granted. We deserve our space!”
57-year-old mum of three, Laura Mitchell, agrees. Laura did regular PT sessions with Catherine before joining the ‘Girls, Gays and Theys’ club. She loves the friendships she’s developed in the club through training and competing.
“They’re a fun group of women and we’re all lifting together in a big pack. We can be silly and I can escape life and all its responsibilities.”
Powerlifting celebrates strength and powerlifters come in all ages, races, shapes and sizes.
“It’s a very body positive sport,” explains Laura. “If you’re a larger woman and don’t see yourself as sporty, you have the capacity to be stronger, and that’s celebrated.”
What sets powerlifting apart is that everyone competes on a level playing field. Success is measured according to age and weight - so while Catherine didn’t lift as much as the heavy lifters at the AWPC World Championships, she came out on top when age and weight were factored in.
“The community in strength training and powerlifting is one of the special things about it,” says Catherine.
“Strength training in the gym feels meditative, but it feels communal too, part of a collective endeavour. In the powerlifting community, I’m lifting weights that are nothing compared to some of the heavy lifters, but the camaraderie is unique. I’m not a great socialiser, I find big groups difficult, but this shared endeavour works for me and stops me feeling uncomfortable.”
Catherine trains regularly in a gym and has a PT of her own, and would advise others to do the same if they can afford one.
“For the best possible start, get a PT. Even if you only pay for a couple of sessions, it’s worth every penny.”
Catherine loves her work as a PT.
“Passing that joy on to others is an enormous pleasure! You don’t have to train with a woman PT, but you do need to choose someone who’s worked with older women before, who you feel safe with and can trust. Some PTs underestimate what older women can do – we’re not fragile, we won’t break! It’s a personal connection, so it’s worth getting right.”
For Laura, the strength training and powerlifting have been life changing. “When I started, I had age-related niggles. That’s been replaced by the soreness of having exercised. I’ve rediscovered physical possibilities in my life.”
“Getting better [at strength training and powerlifting] is a slow process and it requires consistency over perfection. I value the mobility benefits as much as the strength. You don’t often push yourself in this way in real life and you’re building your capacity to do things. You really don’t have to accept creaky knees as being inevitable – there’s something you can do about it!”
When Laura found herself with more time to train, she pushed the boat out and started competing on the powerlifting circuit in January 2024, following up with two further competitions in April and October and qualifying for both British and European championships.
“I’m doing quite well and it feels exciting and a bit dangerous,” Laura says.
Glynis is another great example of what strength training can do for us crones. She was 66 when she started training with Catherine three years ago, and was struggling with her weight, mobility and diabetes. Since training with Catherine, Glynis has improved her mobility, is much stronger, has lost 10kg in weight, and reduced her dependence on insulin.
“Exercise can seem counter-intuitive to older women when they have aches and pains, but if the exercise is careful and progressive, it can be exactly what’s needed,” says Catherine.
“Powerlifting has to be what I do until I can’t anymore. As I get older I want to be in as physically good shape as I can. I think we owe it to ourselves to stay strong.”
Key takeaways.
We hope you enjoyed this month’s issue and feel as motivated as we do! Huge thanks to our Brighton Crone Correspondent, Ann Blackburn. Here’s a summary of a few things we’ve learnt:
💪🏼 Find a supportive group to get started.
💪🏼 Don’t expect immediate results - work out other strategies to keep you going for the first six months. Join a small community of women or get a PT to keep you going back. Maybe arrange to pick to someone else up so you have to go!
💪🏼 Role models - find older women who inspire you on social media so you can ‘channel your inner crone’!
💪🏼 Small steps - focus on the next small step rather than the bigger picture.
💪🏼 Catherine recommends Joe Wicks as a great place to start and he has plenty of free videos on YouTube, including for menopausal women. “They’re very accessible and easy to get into”. Then once you’re familiar with strength training, Catherine recommends Meg Squats.
We’d love to hear your strength training stories in comments below. Have you tried it? If not, why not? What’s holding you back? Maybe we can share some solutions?
To follow the journeys of Rosie and Catherine or to get in touch with them…
The ‘Girls, Gays and Theys Powerlifting Club’ is every Sunday 11.30am to 1.00pm at Fitness Bar, 218 Dyke Road Brighton BN1 5AA . £15 per session.
You can listen to Catherine’s story on “The Body Coach: Extraordinary People’ podcast 2nd September 2024. Available from wherever you get your podcasts.
Connect with Catherine Duffy on Instagram @kittyliftsat66. She’s available in Brighton for one-to-one personal training. Call 07803 765239.
If you’re in Sheffield, Rosie recommends ‘@Mud and Muscle’ - female owned and led by Laura Hollywood, a menopause expert.
To follow Crone Rosie’s journey, you’ll find her on Instagram @Rosie.Dickson.57.
Links to further reading about strength training
Here’s a few links to articles that Crone Ann enjoyed reading in preparation for co-writing this piece.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US’s Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research, looks at the scientific benefits of strength training as we age in this piece from 2022.
A nice piece from 2022 in The Independent about women who started lifting in their sixties.
Some incredible facts and figures about women and strength training from US news network, NPR.
Info on strength training and living longer in this short piece in The Guardian from 2022.
In other news…
🐿 Fun times at Crone Club Sheffield’s January meet up!
Ooo, we had a fabulous time in the Maker Shed at Hillsborough Park this month. Crones gathered, tooled up with sewing machines and fabric to ‘crone-up’ their outfits for the CroneLines disco coming up in Feb!
(Please note, my crone dress pictured here was originally made by the wonderful @twistedtwee (check out their fabulous crone and hag wear here!) and then adapted at our workshop by the incredible @iamkateireland to fit my, ahem, ‘swimmers back’ 😂 .🙏🙏🙏 to both these talents! Thanks too to Crone Verity - aka ‘The Crone that Counts’ for her fabulous talk on the genderisation of sewing and maths, and for this beautifully bonkers video of a crone crocheting an explanation to ‘R’ numbers during Covid. Massive thanks to Crone Diane for making it possible to hire the space. If you’d like join the mailing list for Crone Club Sheffield in-person meet ups, register at www.croneclub.org/sheffield and become a paid subscriber of Tits to the Wind! 👇🏽
A huge thanks to our 100 Paid Subscribers - your money goes towards not just helping me create this publication, but also towards running the Crone Club Private Members Facebook Group, Crone Club Instagram, and online and face-to-face meet ups and events - none of which I get paid for. So your support really does make this possible. 🙏
Only 20 tickets left for the Crone Party! 💃🏾
Are you a woman in peri-menopause or post menopause? Do you want to come and celebrate being alive and the female friendships that have helped you get to where you are? Join us!
👉 www.croneclub.org/cronelines 💃🏾
Love this- gym is so good for building our mental and physical strength to see us shine in Crone-hood! Trying to keep at it to help my osteoporosis (bit of a bummer to discover last year)
As a not-quite-crone-yet in my mid-late 40s I took up pole dance, which is great strength training and a lot of fun. I was a little nervous about how the other 'half my age/half my size' dancers would react to me but didn't need to be, everyone was really welcoming and supportive. I dragged my 2 best mates along and it was great for both mental and physical health for us.
Then covid happened and we had to stop. I tried online training classes which were OK but I missed the studio. And since then, one knee has deteriorated badly due to osteoarthritis. I have bitten the bullet of a referral for a replacement knee and one of the questions I shall be asking at my consultation next week is whether/when I could return to pole dance after the op.