I'm 52F and just started lifting. I have been attending a group strength class 3x p/ week for the past six weeks. Total beginner. Today I was doing overhead squats with a 35# bar 8x 4 sets. On the last set, I pushed myself to go faster, and I fell over on the last rep. I landed on a rubber carpet. No injuries, just wounded my pride.
But I had the sobering realization that my overhead strength and stability are pretty shitty. I'm the only woman in a class of predominantly 30-40 yo M. And I hate to poorly represent older women in such a setting. It's also a bit lonely. I do love the coaches, but they are also 30-40 yo M.
I'm wondering what you would do in a similar situation.
Would you work on overhead strength and stability at home? If so, what would you do?
Or, would you drop the group class and work out on your own until you could get into the shape you needed to get up to speed in a group class?
Or, would you get a private lifting coach? Even online?
Or, would you work harder to try and find a group class with people of a similar demographic?
I'm so new to lifting, I hate to feel discouraged from the start, but I do also need to be realistic about my age and fitness level.
Your thoughts and experienced feedback appreciated.
@ihavetwofeet41 Nothing to do with your strength or the fact your a woman etc in this course. I would say most of the people including yourself should not really be doing such a course as a beginner that include complex movement patterns and a lot of instability. You should develop a good foundation of training and understanding how to properly perform many more basic strength movements first and foremost. Then you can get coached for the olympic lifts if you want to take it further and go into crossfit/olympic lifting down the road. To produce force you have to learn to lift from "stable platforms" this will give your brain a green light to fire some muscle up for you. I would focus quite strongly on standing overhead press, regular back squats, high bar and low bar, and deadlifts. Also you should learn how to bench. All of these lifts done to a certain level of proficiency will greatly increase your understanding of how to produce force, and how to create a stable environment with your body. Also you should not feel embarrassed at all, if you were doing as well as all the men they would be extremely embarrassed
@ihavetwofeet41 I agree with the other commenters here who recommend you follow your intuition to move carefully, not in sync with the recommended class pace. What you describe about the situation sounds like a recipe for injury.
FWIW I (F, age 55) have found that younger male instructors are usually agreeable to giving me modifications--it's the younger women who treat me as an irredeemable malingerer for not falling into lockstep with the rest of the class.
Don't fret about representation; aren't we older women alleged to be invisible anyway?!
@dawn16 Yes, you and Halle Berry (55) completely invisible! I like this. Gives me free license to completely eff it up in the gym in my invisibility cloak.
@ihavetwofeet41 I'm 36F and I still fall with an empty bar at overhead squats! They are SO HARD!!! It is NOTHING like front or back squats so don't give up!!
If you feel like you can approach the coach, ask him for tips or on what to work on. As someone else said, record your lift and post form check videos.
Either way, I'm impressed by anyone being able to overhead squat! You pulled off 3 sets!!! You rock girl! Be proud!
@ihavetwofeet41 My 59 year old mother-in-law doesn't do any lifting, so when she falls over she breaks bones. Keep lifting! Build that bone density! Strengthen your joints! Don't be like my MIL!
@ihavetwofeet41 I'd love for her to lift, but she has significant heart issues that preclude her from a lot of physical activity. She's also overweight so she's experienced lots of accidents and injuries that could have been less serious in a lighter person, as well as general wear and tear from obesity.
She has a whole suite of medical experts and imaging these days, so presumably bone density issues would have been identified by now. It may be the only condition she doesn't have!
@ckmddm Well that would be a relief. So do you hypothesize that the higher mechanical loads of adipose tissue (as opposed to lean muscle) may be protecting her bones.
@ihavetwofeet41 Keep going to the class. It's pretty normal for women that are just starting out to have difficulty getting the bar overhead. Many women aren't even able to press the barbell overhead at first.
@ihavetwofeet41 I would just go back and keep doing the class. Nothing is going wrong here. You were in a place where it's safe to fail this lift, and you were able to take advantage of that safety. Everything is going right.
Practicing at home wouldn't hurt, but that's optional.
@ihavetwofeet41 Dang I think I am the minority here. I am 43. I lift and lift heavy using the powerlifting type movements. I don’t do the Olympic lift because it’s not worth getting hurt. An injury now takes weeks to heal. I can’t see how an over head squat is more beneficial than a set of squats and sets of overhead presses. You can’t get maximum strength in your legs because you are limited to your upper body strength. Best of luck. I just prefer to not risk injury and still lift heavy.
@ihavetwofeet41 If this is just about being embarrassed for falling or is there something about the class making you feel inadequate? If it’s a beginner course, you pretty much should be able to go in without much in the way of strength at all and get the same as anyone else out of it because it’s about form. Of course, this is an ideal and not necessarily a reality for women trying to learn to weightlift.
A 35 lb 7’ bar might be easily manageable by a 6’ tall man but you’re not one of those. If they’re telling you to do the same exact thing they’re telling him to do to learn form on a “light weight”, it’s a bad class/trainer/equipment and has nothing to do with you. There are lighter and shorter, thinner bars for women and juniors. If they were having you try this to challenge you, eh, people drop their bar, fall, etc. all the time if they get a little distracted or off form.
I personally like working with a female trainer because I’ve run into the issues regarding the unwillingness to adapt to our biology and I feel more confident exercising with other women. If you feel that would be more a constructive environment for you, then unapologetically do what’s going to be best for you.
@jdubs99 Both embarrassed and inadequate. I'm the only beginner. I can't quite keep up with the number of reps in the allotted times and still follow good form. Almost--but I don't always finish--maybe 85% of the time do I complete the series. My weight choices are mostly self-selected, nobody is pushing me to go too heavy. I've done 35# for three weeks, I just effed up when going too fast. The speed change up was a (failed) self-imposed challenge. I did my intro session-before going to this class with a great woman-who I plan to work with again 1:1. Totally agree: having more women in lifting class is a friendlier and more supportive headspace for me, too.
