CHARLOTTE — A group of women in their 70s in north Charlotte is challenging traditional exercise routines for older adults by deadlifting heavy weights at a local fitness center.
Mary Walker, 76, and Jacqueline Ponders, 73, are training at DBO Fitness to improve their strength, bone density, and overall health.
The training sessions focus on resistance exercises to combat the natural loss of muscle mass and bone density that occurs as women age.
Walker, 76, deadlifts more than 200 pounds, a weight that exceeds one and a half times her body weight. She noted that her strength often surprises observers, particularly men.
“They don’t believe it, even men do not believe it - even when I show them the videos,” Walker said. “They said, I’m a male, and you make me look bad. They said it’s impossible.” She added that her mindset is to never say she cannot do something.
Ponders, 73, deadlifts 135 pounds and has been training at the facility since her 60s. Since starting the program, she has lost 40 pounds.
“I think it’s a mindset and you have to be determined,” Ponders said. She specifically focuses on her routine to maintain bone strength, a goal encouraged by her trainer.
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“I knew that it was strengthening my bones and Richard would always tell me at my age, 73, that when I fell, like with other seniors, I would not break my bones,” Ponders said. “I’ve fallen twice and haven’t broken a bone.”
Richard Deshields is a trainer at DBO Fitness who works with both women. He emphasized that maintaining physical strength is a requirement for health as people age.
“Muscle mass is key to having it, you must have it to move, you know? To be healthy,” Deshields said.
He noted that the progress made by Walker and Ponders should serve as an example for others. “If they can do it, you can do it too,” he said.
While medical experts from Atrium Health emphasize that such training is critical for longevity, federal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that only about 10% of women ages 65 and older meet national muscle-strengthening guidelines.
“So after the age of 40, it’s a natural process that women start to have decreases in estrogen,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ham, a specialist in osteopathic medicine at Atrium Health. “And as their estrogen decreases, we start to see a lack of muscle. We also start to see a lack of bone density, and the bone density will start to decrease after the age of 40.”
Ham noted that lifting weights can provide a variety of health benefits beyond bone density. “That will actually increase their longevity and not only their duration of life, but hopefully a good quality of life as well,” Ham said.
Despite these benefits, participation in such programs remains low across the country. 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that only 20.4% of women in the United States met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines.
The CDC data show even lower participation rates for specific demographics. Only 16.5% of Black women and 10.8% of women ages 65 and older met the national guidelines.
Walker and Ponders said they are on a mission to improve these numbers by inspiring other women to build muscle and defy age-related expectations. “I always tell people, especially as seniors, to keep it moving,” Ponders said.
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