This article originally appeared on NPR.
On a recent weekday morning, weightlifter Mona Noyes walks up to a platform and positions herself to deadlift, with the help of a trainer. At just over 5 feet tall with curled white hair, this 86-year-old knows what she’s doing at the gym.
For most of her adult life, Noyes was active and worked as a school administrator. She loved her job. Still, when Noyes retired at 77, she felt embarrassed to be “the oldest person anywhere.” And once she stopped working, she also stopped moving. She pulled back from travel and meeting new people, wondering, “Is it safe? Can I really do that?”
Strength training can help people stay healthy as they age. It can slow age-related muscle mass and strength loss, help maintain bone density and improve stability.
But getting started can be intimidating.
Noyes said her confidence dropped when she stopped moving her body. Then her daughter suggested she try working out with a trainer at her gym.
“I thought, well, you know what? I’ll try it. And then I can say, ‘OK, I tried it. That’s it. We’re done.’ But I never went away,” she said.
And that’s how Noyes ended up at Fivex3 Training, a strength and conditioning gym in Baltimore, where she works with coach and trainer Emily Socolinsky. NPR’s Juana Summers was briefly a Fivex3 Training member in 2018.
At first, Noyes started small — stepping up on a box to better handle the stairs. As she continued working with Socolinsky, Noyes got stronger. She says strength training made daily activities easier: from carrying grocery bags to standing up from a low toilet seat.
“Who wants to go to a strange place and you can’t get off the john, you know, and things like that?”
Noyes had tried other gyms, with lots of machines, where she says she saw “sexy workout clothes and lithe bodies.” Her experience at this gym is different. The gym equipment is simple. Several mornings a week are reserved for more senior athletes. And everyone we met at the gym mentioned one critical element: individual attention from a coach who knows you.
