19/08/2025
“Lifting weights will ruin your back...?”
Actually, it might save it.
One of the most persistent myths in musculoskeletal health is that resistance training is dangerous for your spine, especially as you age.
But the data says otherwise.
Progressive strength training doesn't increase back pain. It lowers it. It doesn't wear out your joints. It fortifies them. And when done correctly, it doesn’t injure your spine, it remodels and strengthens the very tissues that keep your back resilient in daily life.
Pain, particularly chronic back pain, is often the result of underloading, not overloading. When tissues aren’t exposed to meaningful stress, they become more sensitive, less robust, and more prone to dysfunction. Gradual resistance training desensitises the nervous system, improves muscle recruitment, and teaches your spine to tolerate load again, a process rooted in both the biomechanical and biopsychosocial models of pain.
In a longitudinal study of adults over 65, even just one year of high-intensity strength training created measurable improvements in lean mass, strength, and muscle quality. And get this, those benefits were still visible three years after stopping training. That means strength training in later life has a durable protective effect against age-related decline.
More lean mass also correlates with better glucose metabolism, improved metabolic rate, lower visceral fat, and, perhaps most critically reduced fall risk, the real driver behind disability and mortality in older populations.
You don’t need to squat 200kg to get these benefits. You just need to move against resistance, consistently, and with intent. Machines, dumbbells, bands, it all counts, if it’s applied intelligently and scaled to your level.
So if you're older and dealing with back pain, the worst thing you can do is stop moving.
The smartest thing you can do?
Start lifting, slowly, safely, and often.
🧬 Strength is not just about muscles. It's medicine for your back.
🟢 Your twilight years should be powerful ones.