Throughout the decades of my adult life, I’ve placed a super high importance on exercise and have tried just about every workout under the sun. Back in my 20s, 30s, and even 40s, there was less of an emphasis on exercise for lifelong health, and I probably (or, definitely) worked out initially for aesthetic reasons. I always loved group fitness, and in my 20s and 30s, I lived in aerobics classes (even taught them for a few years!) and did plenty of cardio. In my 40s and 50s, I mixed it up with running, cycling classes, tennis, high-impact bootcamps, and barre.
But by my 40s and 50s, the injuries started stacking up.
I unfortunately tore both ACLs—my right knee in my mid-40s and my left in my early 50s—both while playing tennis. I ended up developing osteoarthritis in my left knee, and after a year of rehab from my second ACL surgery, the osteoarthritis progressed so much that I then had to get a knee replacement. Still, I continued exercising as much as possible, and in my late 50s, took up reformer pilates classes.
By the time I hit my 60s, a DEXA scan showed that I had osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis), and I was shocked since I had always been so active. Then, last year at age 62, I underwent a left shoulder replacement, also related to osteoarthritis (and possibly worsened by too much reformer pilates). After both my knee and shoulder replacement surgeries, I was blown away by how much muscle mass I lost almost immediately from having to pause working out—and from getting older. I hated to admit it, but at 60, I began noticing how much harder it was to put muscle back on, even though I had never struggled with it before.
During my time off after my shoulder replacement, I realized that I needed to make some changes to my workout routine, and I was also learning about how important it is to lift heavy weights, especially while getting older, to build and maintain muscle. And even though I had exercised consistently for 40+ years, I had never done pure strength training or just gone to the gym and lifted weights on my own, because I preferred group classes and didn’t really feel great walking into a gym not knowing what I was doing.
I decided to fully pivot my workout habits and go all in on strength training in my 60s.
I started lifting heavier than ever and prioritizing protein. I found a personal trainer and started focusing on strength and power training to help me stay strong as I age. I began working with my personal trainer, Justin Riddick, about five months ago, when we met at my gym. I decided to start training with him because I needed help strengthening my shoulder after the replacement. Plus, I wanted to work on full-body strength by lifting weights, and I wasn’t sure what kind of movements to do on my own.
I’ve already learned so much from him about proper form, and he’s challenged me to lift heavier than I thought I could. We train strength and power in the big muscle groups, like quads, glutes, and back, continue to rehab my shoulder, and do balance, agility, and plyometric work to improve my bone health. I know it’s important to train power and agility as I age, so that if I trip, I can more easily catch myself before a fall.
Currently, I train five or six days a week, alternating the types of workouts I do.
I add variety in order to avoid overuse injuries and so my body doesn’t get too accustomed to any specific exercise. I’m still recuperating from my shoulder replacement, but this is generally what my week of workouts looks like:
Two personal strength training sessionsOne or two mat pilates classesOne yoga classOne HIIT Spin class
In our strength training sessions, some of the moves we work on include lateral banded steps, incline push-ups, dumbbell three-point rows, banded Pallof presses, single-leg RDLs, the farmer’s carry, and Bulgarian split squats (right now with a 25-pound dumbbell). Justin organizes exercises into supersets, so I do three movements back-to-back with no rest in between.
Outside of strength work, I also walk one morning each week with friends, and I do about 20 minutes or so of my own HIIT training on the elliptical for my cardiovascular health. I alternate intensities with one minute at an all-out effort and one minute very easy, and I repeat that 7 to 10 times.
Dena Aloian Crews
I try to give myself a total break from any organized exercise on Sunday—I like to have a slow morning just meditating, journaling, and getting ready for the week, but sometimes, my husband and I will go for a casual bike ride or walk.
One win that I’m particularly thrilled about is that I can still do box jumps, split squats, and deadlifts at 63. My trainer says he has 20-year-old clients who can’t do some of those moves, which makes me feel good and motivates me (smart trainer!), especially because there are a few exercises that I’ve had to accept that I won’t be able to do again, like running, because of my knee replacement.
Dena Aloian Crews
While it’s been harder to gain muscle after 60, I’ve kept track of my body composition for about four years using an InBody scale. The month after my knee replacement, I had lost 3.3 pounds, or 6.5 percent, of my total skeletal muscle mass. It took six months of physical therapy and strength training to get it back, but I did it, and I’m super proud of that.
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Here are my secrets to building muscle and strength in my 60s.1. I never stopped moving, even in recovery.
Surgery is no piece of cake, and one of my big goals right now is to have no more surgeries anytime soon! Going through rehab and physical therapy was pretty grueling, but in my mind, I had no choice but to do everything I could do to recover, because I want to live a full and active life. So I followed doctor’s orders, went to physical therapy, and continued to work out during my recovery the best I could. My goal was to keep moving no matter what.
Dena Aloian Crews
2. Instead of focusing on what I can’t do anymore, I think of what I can do.
I’ve had to make peace with the fact that I can’t do now what I could do at age 20, 30, or even 40, but I can keep moving and have a good attitude. For instance, I can’t run or do high-impact bootcamp classes with ballistic jumps because those movements hurt my knees, so I instead focus on lower-impact cardio like walking and cycling. Plus, I love snow skiing, but I can’t hit the slopes hard every day during vacations anymore because of my knees. So, I just take a day off in between and sit by the fire reading instead (which is so nice!), and I don’t go as hard on the slopes.
Dena Aloian Crews
When I’m tempted to feel sad or depressed about what I can’t do anymore, I try to turn it around and think about how grateful I am for my body and how it’s my vehicle for experiencing the world. I’m so motivated to take care of it for the long haul, and I appreciate how it’s done a great job so far of moving me around through life.
3. I work out for the 70-year-old version of myself.
I’ve always told my kids, “What you’re doing now shows up 10 years from now.” My goal is to stay active and function independently and even optimally into my nineties and beyond. I’m hoping to live 30+ more years, and I want to be able to travel, walk and hike for miles, play with grandkids, lift heavy bags, maintain my balance, and generally get through my days with energy and vitality.
I’m especially motivated to reach this goal because when my mother was in the last few years of her life, she suffered from sarcopenia and literally shrank due to an illness that kept her from doing much physically, which was heartbreaking. Even with all of the exercise I’ve done my entire life, I was still diagnosed with osteopenia, but my goal is to reverse it if possible through my lifestyle and exercise routine.
Dena Aloian Crews
With that, I have the mindset that exercise isn’t optional—it’s as important to my health as brushing my teeth, sleeping, and eating healthily. And I don’t wait until I feel like working out to do it, because I almost never actually feel like it ahead of time. I’m a big believer in scheduling it just like any other important appointment. I’ve been consistently working out for 40 years, and there’s never been one time that I’ve wished I hadn’t worked out after the fact.
I’ve always heard people say, “It sucks getting older,” and I just don’t agree. Don’t get me wrong—it’s been a slow process to build back strength and muscle after my surgeries, and I definitely have different physical limits now, but I know I can still be strong and active. I’m not giving up on my goal of having a long healthspan, of living healthily for a long time, doing the things I want to do, and spending every day learning, growing, and thriving.
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Addison Aloian is the associate health & fitness editor at Women’s Health, where she writes and edits across the health, weight loss, and fitness verticals. She’s also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In her free time, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, running on the West Side Highway in New York City—she recently completed her first half-marathon—and watching (and critiquing!) the latest movies that have garnered Oscars buzz. In addition to Women’s Health, her work has also appeared in Allure, StyleCaster, L’Officiel USA, V Magazine, VMAN, and more.