We’ve never felt so close to Sheila Hancock. ‘I’m starting at the gym again,’ the 93-year-old actress told Katherine Ryan on the What’s My Age Again? podcast. ‘I’ve not been going to the gym and my legs are getting a bit feeble… I need to do some of those pushy exercises.’
Sheila, we relate. ‘“My legs are getting a bit feeble” is the sentence I hear from women every single week, so Sheila has plenty of company,’ says Kate Rowe Ham, women’s health coach and menopause fitness specialist.
But if you’ve waited till your knees start to complain to even contemplate joining a gym, the prospect can be daunting. Which of the, errr… ‘pushy exercises’ do you actually need to do? How do you use the machines without breaking a bone, some terrifyingly expensive kit or your dignity? What if you get stuck on the treadmill? Don’t panic, Kate has the answers for gym newbies.
What to look for in a gym
First things first, you need to choose a gym. But how? ‘Ask for a proper one-to-one induction, not a tour and a form to sign. You want someone to take you round every machine before you touch it,’ says Kate. ‘While you’re there, ask two questions: do any of the trainers work with older adults and what are the over-60s concessions? They’re almost never advertised.’
Check the practical bits, too. Do you need step-free access, to either the gym or changing rooms? And on those, are they nice enough to keep you going? Ask when it’s quiet, too, if you’d rather workout more privately.
Above all, says Kate: ‘choose somewhere with machines, not just free weights. Machines hold you steady and take the balance question out of it, so you can concentrate on the muscle you’re actually working.’
How to get started
You’ve picked your gym and pulled your trainers out of the back of the cupboard. Now what? ‘Speak to your GP first if you haven’t exercised for a while, or you have a condition,’ says Kate. Next, speak to an instructor at the gym. Have them show you the right seat and pad positions for you on each machine and either write them down or photograph them on your phone.
Your first workout
Start with six movements, twice a week, with 48 hours between sessions, suggests Kate. Don’t know how much weight to add on the machines? The answer, she says, is ‘very little, lighter than feels worthwhile. If you can’t decide between two, take the lighter one. Women almost never start too light. They start too heavy, feel dreadful, and never go back.’
Begin with one or two sets of 8-12 repetitions. Keep it slow and controlled, especially on the way down. And don’t forget to breathe!
Once you can do that comfortably, you can add to the challenge. But go slow! ‘Add the smallest increment on the weight stack, or an extra rep,’ says Kate. Small steps forward, and often, is the goal.
Find your body complaining? ‘A dull ache for a day or two afterwards is normal,’ says Kate. ‘Sharp joint pain, a twinge, dizziness? Stop and ask someone. And give it eight weeks before you decide whether it’s working.’
Which machines to use
You don’t need to learn about or use every machine in the gym. Instead, says Kate: ‘match the machine to whatever you’re missing in real life’.
‘I learned to row in the week before we started filming,’ Sheila has said about the film Edie, in which she played an 83-year-old widow who rebels against a planned move to a retirement home, instead travelling to the Scottish Highlands and climbing Mount Suilven. Rowing is a great exercise for building leg strength as each push uses the quadriceps to straighten the knees and the glutes to extend the hips.
Here are the specific exercises Kate recommends, however, for life’s everyday challenges:
- For ‘feeble legs’, and climbing stairs and hills – leg press, seated leg curl, calf raise
- For getting off the floor and opening heavy doors – chest press
- For carrying the shopping and improving posture – seated row, lat pulldown
- For reaching high cupboards – shoulder press
- For feeling steady – hip abductor and adductor
Most importantly, though: ‘just ask,’ says Kate. ‘Tell the instructor, I want to get off the floor without help and get up my stairs without stopping, and ask them to build six moves around it. Anyone working in a gym will be glad you asked.’