The roll call of benefits associated with regular strength training have long been established.
At the very top of the list for older adults is preventing age-related osteoporosis (bone weakening) and sarcopenia (muscle loss), helping reduce the risk of falls and making everyday tasks feel more manageable.
Yet, a common misconception that can put people off—especially women—is that lifting weights will make you excessively muscle-bound.
It's something strength coach and yoga teacher Alex Silver-Fagan, who has just released a 12-week strength training plan on Chris Hemsworth's Centr app, is keen to dispel.
“There is a big fear of your body looking a certain way,” she tells Fit&Well, describing the often-pedalled myth she hears from female clients.
You’re not lifting heavy to make yourself look like you lift heavy. You’re lifting heavy to make yourself feel like you can handle anything.
Alex Silver-Fagan
“I really want people—and especially women—to understand that you're not lifting heavy to make yourself look like you lift heavy.
“You’re [lifting heavy] to make yourself feel like you can handle anything,” she explains.
Silver-Fagan says this is a lesson she learned herself when she first started exercising.
“I’m really grateful that I started with bodybuilding because I worked so hard in the gym and yet I was the smallest, leanest I have ever been. Like super tiny.”
This quickly made her realize that lifting weights alone wouldn't pack on excessive muscle, but it would deliver a raft of benefits for both mind and body.
“I switched [from taking fitness for granted] to really taking care of my body and nourishing my body and it started to respond and look the way I had always wanted.”
It’s a learning curve she hopes everyone will embrace this new year—understanding that strength training has merit for all genders and all ages.
“I want women to [approach strength training] with respect and curiosity and awareness of what your body can do, to discover what can happen when you honor that relationship.”
As a case in point, Silver-Fagan points to her Instagram account.
“If you look at my page, I’m not a gym girly. [My posts] are playful and feminine,” she says.
“But if you look at my stories, I’m lifting heavy. So I want people to understand that those two things can coexist.”
