Whenever I hear the name Wayne Westcott I automatically think of the YMCA because of his long running affiliation with the Y. I also think of strength training since I had read many of his articles and books on different aspects of weight training. Last weekend I found one of his articles from 2005, "Why Women Weight Train". He wrote about 10 benefits and they all hold true today. The truth doesn't change much. He touched on areas such as reducing your risk of diabetes and the benefits for bone density, but the one I liked the best was # 9, "It Will Work No Matter How Old You Are". I have trained for years and currently my women range in age from 50ish to 90ish. Someone asked me once "What does a 90 year old do?" Well, she does pretty much everything you and I do just with a lighter weight or tube. She does lat pull downs, chest press, shoulder work, step ups. The 90 year old wants the same thing the 50 year old wants, to be strong. Westcott goes on to say that women at all ages can show improvement with strength training except that women at 70 and 80 and older training with a fitness professional is more important than ever. Here is proof that you never get to the point where you should put the weight down and say "OK. I'm done".
Resource: Spinning Instructor News March 2005
