At 83, my mum went from barely walking to doing deadlifts in a year – here’s how
I’ve watched my 83-year-old mum and 81-year-old dad transform their strength, mobility and confidence with this simple routine
Somehow we have accepted frailty as being an inevitable part of ageing. But I now know that, for most, this doesn’t have to be the case. Yes, we slow down, and recovery can take longer, but the body retains an extraordinary capacity to adapt.
As a journalist in my fifties, I’ve focused on exploring how to age well for the last several years. I’ve interviewed doctors, scientists, physiotherapists, and exercise coaches. I’ve interviewed individuals who have turned their health and fitness around in later life. And I’ve been struck by the fact that the ones who seem to be defying all expectations of age are those who have taken up strength training.
It turns out muscle isn’t just some isolated part of our scaffolding that, like everything else, is destined to grow weaker as we get older. Science now shows it acts like a vital organ, pivotal to our metabolic and even brain health. It’s longing to be challenged and it will respond by getting stronger – at any age – protecting us from what could be a catastrophic fracture, and helping us stay mobile and independent.
How do I know this? I’ve watched my 83-year-old mum, Rhoda, transform her mobility – and vitality – in just one year through strength training. Diagnosed with osteoporosis in her sixties, she had gradually lost so much muscle in her back that she could only walk upright unaided for 30 seconds. She tried working out with resistance bands, using rowing and climbing machines, but nothing had turned it around.
Then when she and my dad, Michael, watched an interview I did with a strength coach – who now trains them – we all made the decision to give weight lifting a try. At 81, my dad has gone from a man who was worrying about age slowing him down to something of an elite lifter (for his age). He continually wows fellow shoppers by running up escalators and steep flights of steps as he speeds through his errands.
My parents train twice a week with me in my garage using a barbell and weights, following a programme set by an online coach. We focus on four compound movements that work the major muscle groups: the squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press.
My mum’s first deadlift was around 12kg; today she can deadlift over 45kg. She squats with a 20kg vest. She now walks unaided and with hugely improved speed and balance for over six minutes at a time. More importantly, she feels capable again.
My dad now deadlifts over 90kg – more than double what he managed at the start – and benches close to 50kg. But the real shift isn’t just the numbers: it’s confidence. Where my parents once felt they were on a downward path, they now feel they are improving and have so much to look forward to with their regained power and function. And with the benefits being felt within just a few weeks of starting training, we are all committed to keeping this up for life. There’s no going back now.
Build strength slowly
We first started weight training together in January 2025, with the twice weekly sessions lasting around 90 minutes each time as we worked through our four separate lifts.
For each of them, we’ll warm-up with lighter weights on the bar first before building up to our heaviest lifts.
The key advantage with using a barbell is the ability to start very light and increase weight in small increments – 1kg or even as little as 0.5kg at a time – allowing steady, safe improvement. That steady progression is what has transformed my parents.
It has also meant they’ve not really been affected by muscle soreness after workouts.
But barbells aren’t the only way. Whether it’s dumbbells, kettlebells or machines, the principle remains the same: the challenge must increase over time. Muscle responds to challenge through a principle called progressive loading – gradually increasing resistance so the body adapts and grows stronger.
In our case, we all started by lifting light weights to focus on getting our form right before slowly increasing the load.
On the squat, my mum began by just mastering sit-to-stands from the bench, before learning to squat lower to a box, gradually adding a little weight to her vest and increasing from there.
It’s always a good idea to consult a GP before starting a new high-intensity exercise regime, especially if you have pre-existing conditions like osteoporosis.
Don’t only rely on the strength sessions, though
Structured strength training sessions are a very powerful healthy ageing tool, but daily movement matters too. Walking, gardening, carrying shopping, climbing stairs – these small movements maintain circulation, joint health and metabolic flexibility.
A 2022 meta-analysis in The Lancet Public Health linked higher daily step counts with lower all-cause mortality risk, with benefits evident at step counts below 10,000 – particularly in older adults.
My dad deliberately aims to get more steps in each day, and consciously increases his pace as he walks. He also delights in running up stairs, with the power having returned to his legs again.
We try to get my mum out walking a couple of times a week, and her growing strength means everyday tasks have become much easier again, so she can handle housework and gardening on her own. It’s the win-win of increasing capability allowing her to also up her activity levels. She recently flipped the mattress on her double bed on her own!
Studies show older adults can often benefit from increasing their protein intake, to support muscle repair and this is something my parents have done, too. They have always enjoyed cooking from scratch and eat a Mediterranean diet (the most evidenced when it comes to healthy ageing) which includes a good spread of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, lean meats, and fish.
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They also really pay attention to sleep. Research shows insufficient sleep could impair muscle recovery following resistance exercise. Getting the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night is more challenging for my parents in their eighties, but they have paid attention to it (including limiting fluid intake after dinner) and usually average around six to seven hours.
Both my parents feel much more optimistic about the future thanks to weight training.
We begin losing muscle from around our thirties, with an acceleration in women around perimenopause and later in men. But decline is not inevitable. Instead of winding down as we move into our later years, we need to prioritise strength, movement and nutrition. And as my parents’ have shown: it’s never too late to redefine how we age.
Watch Rhoda and Michael’s progress in the series Rebuilding Mum and Dad on The Honest Channel (YouTube)
