I am writing to share my experience as an “older” woman engaging in weight training, with Donovan Belcourt, owner, along with his wife, Katelyn of Cannon Strength, in Northfield, Minnesota.

I have worked with Donovan as one of his physical training clients for the last eight years. For the first three years, I worked out with him in person, in Duluth, and after he moved to Northfield, where he has established his own gym, Cannon Strength, I have been working with him with programing. He sends me my workouts, as I’ve now learned how to lift safely on my own, and we meet up a couple times a month, so we can discuss the workouts, and he can review my data, and observe a few of the key lifts.

I also like to say the work outs with Donovan give me two of my favorite things: physical fitness and book club, and is a value-added piece of my training. Sometimes the topic is physiology related to exercise, stress, or illness, other times it is how to stay motivated and change habits. Another favorite topic, given that we and other friends/family work in health fields (I’m a physician) we brainstorm how we can help the populations we serve achieve and maintain good health, and how we can employ these strategies in an effective manner.

As persons age, the importance of maintaining/increasing strength and muscle mass is increasingly important, and a recommendation from the ACP is that those over the age of 50 should engage in 2 sessions a week of weight training, in addition to the recommended cardio type activities for cardiac fitness 3-5 sessions a week. The benefits of weight training include improvements in bone density, maintenance of muscle mass, with consequent improvement in metabolic factors, as well as ability to do activities of daily living, and by strengthening the core muscles and posterior chain muscles, improving balance and reducing the risk of falls.

The value of using a qualified coach for this includes ensuring proper form, appropriate progression, and prevention of injuries that than prevent or discourage further activity. Programs like Silver Sneakers are valuable, but can involve a bit of “one size fits all” mentality and may not encourage progression to gain the benefits of increasing muscle mass, strength, and ability to engage in all life has to offer, even as one ages.

The programs Donovan, Katelyn and their coaches use are successful in achieving this aim, as my own story demonstrates. I have a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, with lesions at C2, C4 and T4, and twelve years ago, I was deconditioned and weak, and had been living with diagnosed MS for 9 years. I had no energy, and even running errands was a stretch. I would be so tired I would seriously consider calling my husband to come pick me up from the store. I could barely carry in a bag of groceries, and I couldn’t do activities I had enjoyed, like running. My neurologist at that time, based on my course, estimated I would need “an assistive device” by age 65. Training with Donovan, I can lift the 80-100lbs honey supers off my bee hives without difficulty, haul in 50lb bags of chicken feed, or carry 5 gallon buckets of water, one in each hand a couple hundred feet to my garden. I can hike 10-15 miles in a day with a 45lb pack, and go up steep climbs and keep up with my 29-year old daughter. I’ve been able to continue to work full time, run trail, including Ragnar trail races, road and mountain bike, distance hike, scuba dive, cross country ski, and pretty much anything friends want to try. I don’t see a cane or wheelchair anywhere near in my future, nor does my neurologist now, and I’m almost 63.

The programs from Cannon Strength are individualized. My training program addresses my needs. At times after I’ve not been able train as regularly, or have some ache or strain going on, the program is adapted and I’ve been able to get back on track. I value the realistic perspective on the ups and downs of long-term fitness in terms of setbacks and successes, and having that discussed regularly reminds me to see the bigger picture and deal with discouragement when all isn’t going as well as I want. It’s exciting initially when one makes a lot of progress, but being encouraged to maintain consistency when things stall or even regress a bit, makes for long term success. Clearly this has worked, as I’m still at it 9 years on and have been able to maintain my fitness over time.

I refer patients who are willing to a couple coaches here in my area, with good success. If you are looking for someone your patients can work with, I strongly recommend Cannon Strength. There would also be huge value for patients who have completed physical therapy from deficits related to surgery/illness/injury, as continuing to work once their course of PT is complete would help them maintain their gains. I wish Cannon Strength were in this area!