Is It Too Late to Start Strength Training After 50? Cat Answers My Questions

The Questions We Google at Midnight, Answered by Someone Who Knows

There’s a certain kind of question you only ask in a search bar.

It’s the kind you’d feel a little silly asking out loud, maybe at the gym, assuming you even go to the gym. Is it too late for me? Am I doing this wrong? Will lifting weights make me look like a linebacker?

Before this Salty Sisters livestream, I went digging through the questions people ask most online about exercise after 50. Then I brought the whole list to Cat Corchado, my co-host. She’s also the person I already pester with a steady stream of exercise videos from social media, asking, “Is this safe?”

Who’s answering

Cat has spent her whole adult life in motion. She served 20 years in the Air Force and has decades of experience teaching Pilates. She’s the founder of the Fit for Life Alliance and the Keep It Moving Community for women in midlife and beyond, where you can reignite your inner strength and flexibility through live online Pilates, weight training, strength, stretching, and Yamuna Body Rolling classes.

She’s 69, and she’s rebuilt her own routine every decade. She told me her body tends to greet each new birthday with “Here you go. Take that.”

Here’s what I asked her.

Is it too late to start strength training?
Cat didn’t hesitate. It’s never too late.

How heavy is “heavy”?
You’re probably hearing a lot about the benefits of heavy lifting. I do, but I also worry about injuring myself by lifting too heavy too soon. Cat gives a real starting point, a smart way to move up, and the two weights she’d buy first.

Do I need a gym?
No. If you like the gym, though, Cat has a sneaky way of learning the machines that doesn’t involve a sales pitch disguised as a “complimentary personal training session.”

How many days a week?
The number surprised me. It’s a lot more doable than you’re probably imagining.

Will lifting weights make me bulky?
This is where Cat gets fired up. You’ll hear what it would take to bulk up and why most of us aren’t anywhere close. You’ll also hear what happened to the pink dumbbells in her studio.

What’s the difference between toned and strong?
“Toned” is the most-searched word Cat would love to retire. We also get into how someone can look skinny and still not be healthy, and why the washboard-abs ads drive her a little crazy.

Does menopause change how I should exercise?
Yes, though not in the way you might expect. Cat explains why longer workouts aren’t always better and what she does now instead of an hour on the treadmill.

Can strength training help with bone loss, balance, and brain health?
Three questions got three very different answers, and one of them was “150 percent.” We cover osteopenia, why balance needs its own practice, grip strength, and the brain’s clever habit of building detours.

Why does any of this matter?
Cat tells the story of a longtime client who went into major spine surgery and amazed her surgeons with her post-surgical recovery. That’s where all of this stops being about workouts and starts being about independence: getting up from a chair without rocking back and forth to get momentum, opening your own jars, and carrying your own groceries.

Where do I start if I’m starting from zero?
Cat’s answer costs less than any program out there. You’ll need good shoes.

Watch the episode

You can listen right here on this page, but a few moments are better seen than heard: the heel raise Cat does while she washes dishes, an upper-body stretch you can do lying on the floor, and an official demonstration of the “bye-bye muscle.” (You know the one.)

📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube here. 

We didn’t get to every question, and I know there are more. While you’re on YouTube, leave yours in the comments. Cat will answer some of them there, and we may collect the rest for a follow-up episode.

Want more Cat?

• Revitalize Your Midlife Symposium: Five days of conversations with experts on brain health, free and streaming October 12 to 16 at 7pm ET on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Topics include sleep, movement, nutrition, the gut microbiome, and healthy brain aging. Watch it here.
• 11-Minute Exercise Challenge: The next free round runs November 9 to 13. Sign up here.

So what’s the question you’ve been asking your search bar instead of a real live human? Ask it here. We’d love to hear it.