Older athletes keep lifting
Recent profiles show older adults sticking with high‑intensity strength work: Rakesh Roshan, 76, is doing boxing and strength training; Anita Raj, 63, follows high‑intensity sessions; and 75‑year‑old Amrit Kaur trains with squats and barbells ( ).
Strength training in later life is showing up less as gentle maintenance and more as hard, regular work with barbells, boxing drills and high-intensity gym sessions. (hindustantimes.com) Hindustan Times recently profiled actor Rakesh Roshan, 76, doing boxing and strength work; actor Anita Raj, 63, in high-intensity training; and 75-year-old Amrit Kaur training with squats and a barbell. (hindustantimes.com) Those routines line up with mainstream public-health advice more than they break from it: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says adults 65 and older need muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days a week, along with aerobic activity and balance work. (cdc.gov) The shift is not that older adults should move; that has been standard advice for years. The visible change is that resistance training now includes free weights, machines and higher-effort sessions, not just walking or light stretching. (nia.nih.gov) The National Institute on Aging says researchers have studied strength training in older adults for more than 40 years and linked it to maintaining muscle mass, improving mobility and extending healthy years of life. (nia.nih.gov) Public guidance has also moved beyond the idea that aging automatically means lower effort. The World Health Organization says adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening work on 2 or more days. (who.int) That does not mean every older adult should copy a celebrity workout. The National Health Service says people with medical conditions or long gaps in exercise should speak to a doctor first and match intensity to their fitness. (nhs.uk) Researchers have also tied strength work to fall prevention, a major aging-health issue. A systematic review of randomized trials found resistance training can reduce falls in older adults, though program design and supervision still matter. (nih.gov) The American College of Sports Medicine said in a March 17, 2026 update that the biggest gains in resistance training come from consistency, not complicated programming. That helps explain why the image of older athletes in the gym now looks less exceptional and more like the rule experts have been writing toward. (acsm.org)
