{"id":318160,"date":"2025-10-20T08:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/318160\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T08:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:56:12","slug":"we-want-you-to-fall-in-love-with-a-stronger-you-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/318160\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We want you to fall in love with a stronger you\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

More and more women<\/a> in their 40s, 50s and 60s are realising the importance of keeping their bodies fit and strong as they age, according to a new group of strength and conditioning experts offering online and in person classes in Ireland. <\/p>\n

Clare Kennedy, one of the fitness instructors with strongeryouforlife.com says that older women \u2013 many of whom neglected their physical health during their childbearing years \u2013 are now becoming aware of the importance of exercise for injury prevention, pain relief and mental wellbeing. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour confidence gets shattered if your body isn\u2019t in good shape. I tell my clients to write their work-outs in their diaries each week so it\u2019s an essential part of their week,\u201d says Clare Kennedy. <\/p>\n

Emma Kennedy (no relation), another fitness instructor with the group says that she has felt the personal benefits of strength training even though she kept reasonably fit through running when she was younger. <\/p>\n

\u201cI only started strength training in my late 30s and early 40s. If I had known what I know now when I was in my 20s, it would have helped me when I was having my children,\u201d says Kennedy. <\/p>\n

Prof Fiona Wilson, professor of sports medicine at Trinity College Dublin<\/a> and chartered physiotherapist, explains that one of the key features of ageing in women is loss of muscle mass. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrailty may seem a long way off when you\u2019re in your 40s or 50s but it\u2019s a major cause of hospitalisation and mobility loss as well as cardiovascular disease in older women,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Sports medicine experts are now keen to promote the so-called \u201cwindow of opportunity\u201d in mid life using the well-worn maxim, Use It or Lose it. <\/p>\n

However, some women in midlife may not have exercise literary in that they might not be exposed to strength training in the same way that younger women are now. \u201cIt can be intimating for this age group,\u201d says Prof Wilson.<\/p>\n

\"FionaFiona Wilson, professor of sports medicine at Trinity College Dublin and chartered physiotherapist <\/p>\n

Prof Wilson says that strength and balance exercises or resistance training are recognised ways of improving muscular fitness. \u201cLunges and squats are great exercises because they combine strength, range of motion and balance, but often women stop doing these exercises as they age,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Emma Kennedy believes that exercise is often the first thing women drop off when their lives become busy with work and family demands. \u201cWe\u2019re here to assist women who are not sure where to start when it comes to exercise and strength training. We want you to fall in love with a stronger you,\u201d says Emma Kennedy. <\/p>\n

Brenda Mockler (45) is an example of someone who has transformed her health in the last three years or so. \u201cI have four children and a granddaughter and I had started to suffer from terrible lower back pain in the last while. It felt like my upper body was falling into my lower body,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Starting exercise classes also prompted Mockler to make other changes to her daily routines. \u201cI had always associated exercise with losing weight and being skinny but now I wanted to exercise to feel better mentally and deal with pain,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Since signing up for three early morning classes each week and going for an early morning walk the other mornings, Mockler has transformed her physical and mental wellbeing. \u201cI\u2019m stronger. The pain in my back has eased and if I stand up straight and stretch, the pain goes. My mental health is better too,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

Dr Sinead Meade, a busy GP found that she was neglecting her own health and realised she had to do something about it. \u201cI was working 60-70 hours a week, not eating all day, having dinner at 8pm, going to bed and repeating the pattern the next day,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n

When you make resistance training available to more people, you are protecting the health of the nation,<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Prof Fiona Wilson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The imminence of her 50th birthday became the motivation to change the way she was leading her life. \u201cBefore I had children, I went to the gym six days a week. My babies were born by Caesarean sections and I more or less stopped exercising when they were young. I didn\u2019t even go for walks,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow as my children are 12 and 14, I feel like I am setting an example for them. I also promote strength training to peri-menopausal and menopausal women who come to my clinic,\u201d says Meade. Her new routine includes eating breakfast (which she didn\u2019t do before), going to in-person classes twice a week, walking on other days and returning to playing tennis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great and I feel strong and I\u2019ve taken on a partner GP at the practise to ease my workload,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The reduction in the body\u2019s production of oestrogen during menopause contributes to the age-related decline in muscle mass, physical strength, and stability. GPs are increasing aware of the importance of encouraging women in their 40s, 50s and 60s to maintain skeletal muscle strength and balance. The loss of oestrogen also increases older women\u2019s risk of heart attack and stroke and weight bearing exercises help to keep the cardiovascular system in good order. <\/p>\n

One study published in Harvard Women\u2019s Health Watch in 2025 found that older women who partook in twice-weekly guided exercises (including Tai Chi and circuit training) reduced their risk of falling. <\/p>\n

Another study found multiple benefits from High-Intensity Interval Training and Continuous Aerobic Training among 60-85 year olds. The participants improved their cardiovascular fitness, their cognitive performance and their mental health. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0How hard do you have to work to build muscle?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Older women with fitter, stronger bodies are also much less likely to fall or be able to prevent a fall by having a quicker reaction time. Other studies have found that women who maintain cardiorespiratory fitness have reduced rates of hospitalisation. <\/p>\n

Emma Kennedy says that one of her aims is \u201cto break down the fear of weight training for older women\u201d. <\/p>\n

According to Kennedy, many women are fearful of lifting weights yet they lift their 10 kg suitcases into the overhead lockers on aeroplanes, they pick up their three-year-old child who weighs about 20 kg or they move their sofas around when cleaning the house. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we start with resistance training using your body weight and build up using five and seven kilogram (kg) weights first, moving up gradually to higher weights,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about building up muscle mass in your legs, arms and abdomen and by gradually lifting heavier weights, you increase your bone density,\u201d says Emma Kennedy who runs early morning outdoor classes in Tallaght as well as her one-to-one in person\/online classes. <\/p>\n

As life expectancy increases, the challenge for all older women will be to partake in regular exercise sessions to maintain their physical fitness and mental wellbeing. Such exercise regimes will also reduce the risk of long term chronic conditions such as Diabetes Type II, cardiovascular disease and dementia. <\/p>\n

\"ClareClare Kennedy: ‘We\u2019re here to assist women who are not sure where to start when it comes to exercise and strength training’ <\/p>\n

Prof Wilson suggests that women have to decide whether exercising with a group or exercising at home on online classes or using apps works best for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more and more classes available in person and online but they can cost a lot of money,\u201d says Wilson. She believes that there should be more free public gyms and free outdoor classes. \u201cWhen you make resistance training available to more people, you are protecting the health of the nation,\u201d says Wilson, whose research interests include the management of arthritis and low back pain using exercises and activities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More and more women in their 40s, 50s and 60s are realising the importance of keeping their bodies…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":318161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[1198,210,3971,27989,517,67,132,68,15649],"class_list":{"0":"post-318160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-wellness","11":"tag-menopause","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-womens-health"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115405664347166198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}