Does Weightlifting Impact Joints Over 50 Years Old?
You’re 50 or maybe even older and you want to start exercising. Does lifting weights impact your joints or increase chances of injury due to your age? In today’s blog I give you my perspective as a fitness enthusiast that loves weightlifting but hates pain and injury. I hope to shine a positive and hopeful light for my beautiful aging readers!
Does Weightlifting Impact Joints Over 50 Years Old?
My answer is IT DEPENDS. It depends what kind of weightlifting you are doing. There’s many different methods of lifting weights that develop strength, resilience and power but some methods are more impactful than others. I’ll break down the difference between them and help you understand which method is best for someone over 50 years old.
Fast and Explosive Weightlifting
Weightlifting can be performed to develop speed and power but the type of exercises that are best are usually going to be the ones that are most impactful because of how fast and explosive the movements are. The lifts that are chosen to develop these kind of results are Olympic Styled Lifts like the Overhead Snatches and Clean and Jerks. Notice that they’re called Olympic lifts because they are weightlifting techniques that are considered to be performed at the Olympic level by Olympic athletes.
Studies have shown these lifts develop so much speed and power that these lifts are even performed by professional athletes of other disciplines of sport but they’re extremely difficult and should only be performed with the intention to become faster and powerful. To ask 56 year-old Jane or Bill to do this without any lifting experience is probably not the best way to start the journey.
Why not Fast and Explosive?
The faster a lift is, the less awareness we experience in our body. The speed disconnects proper joint alignment, pain perception, and mindfulness to your body during the lift. If these lifts are not coached well by experienced coaches, these are the kind of lifts that will cause the most joint pain and ultimately, injury.
Olympic and professional athletes have coaches that are Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists instructing athletes how to perform these exercises correctly because they know the risk is high. Compare that to Crossfit coaches that are certified over a weekend to teach 56 year-old Jane and Billy how to clean and jerk…its not the best way to start an exercise journey.
Notice also people that do these lifts regularly are the ones that are wearing compression sleeves over their elbows and knees. It’s because of how much IMPACT their joints are taking at every lifting session. Especially if you unidentified muscular imbalances from weak and tight muscle groups, doing explosive movements will make your body compensate for the imbalance and this is what causes joint pain and injury.
Slow and Controlled is Better
Look at professional bodybuilders and physique competitors. They have beautiful bodies and they are never doing Olympic lifts to get the results they have. These kind of lifters are masters of lifting weights to develop strength, lean muscle mass and shape. They accomplish this by lifting weights slowly, mindfully and with proper form.
When lifting weights is performed slowly and mindfully, you can get all the results of a sculpted body while minimizing pain and injury. Some simple exercises that can develop strength and shape when performed mindfully are Seated Rows, Chest Presses, Shoulder Raises, Squats, Deadlifts, Calf Raises, Seated Pulldowns, Lunges and Hip Bridges.
When you are able to take your time, you can set your joints properly in the right place, feel every moment to make any micro adjustments every set and to also note if a weight is too heavy. To develop the best results from lifting this way is to slowly lower weights down, lift them fast and pause for a moment or two to really feel the squeeze of the muscle and repeat. If you can do this regularly and consistently, you can achieve a strong, toned and sculpted body without feeling pain.
Conclusion: If you’re over 50 and you want to start lifting weights to sculpt your body while keeping impact low on your joints, it’s better to approach it slowly, mindfully and controlled with proper form. Leave the explosive Olympic exercises to the young Olympians and Professional athletes that are actually getting paid to do these exercises. If it’s longevity and quality of life you're looking for, approach it slowly and mindfully so you can enjoy it and squeeze the most pleasure out of it.
Thank you for reading!
Book a FREE consultation at my gym Empyrea Group Training in Cedar Grove, NJ and learn how to lifts weights the right way!
- Carl Anthony Grande
