Afraid to Lift Weights With Neck Pain? A Woman Over 60's Story

One of the most common concerns I hear from women who want to build muscle after 50 is this:

“What if I hurt myself?”

And for women who've struggled with neck pain or headaches, that fear can be even bigger. They want to get stronger, but they're worried that lifting weights will make an already painful situation worse.

I understand that concern. I also know that giving every woman the same workout and expecting it to work for every body isn't the answer.

When I work with a client, we look at where she's starting, what she wants to be able to do, and what might be getting in her way. Then we figure out how to approach strength training in a way that's appropriate for her needs and abilities.

Let me show you what that looked like for one of my clients.

Meet Therese: From Afraid to Lift to Stronger Than She Imagined

Therese is in her 60s, athletic, and a real go-getter. Honestly, I sometimes have a hard time slowing her down!

When we started working together, she was struggling with significant neck issues and headaches. She loved being active, but she was understandably concerned that lifting weights might make her symptoms worse.

We started slowly with upper-body exercises, using light weights and paying attention to how she felt during and after each session.

We also incorporated MELT techniques and MELT NeuroStrength movements to work on body awareness, stability, and movement control.

Rather than expecting Therese to push through discomfort or follow a standard exercise plan, we adapted her training to her needs and gradually built from there.

Today, she's pressing 30-pound dumbbells and using 40 pounds on each side for a cable press. She's also carrying her grandson, lifting heavy boxes, continuing to teach yoga, and enjoying the active life that's so important to her.

So how did we get there?

First, We Looked Beyond the Exercise

When you're dealing with neck pain, it's easy to become focused on the area that hurts. And understandably so! When your neck hurts or you're dealing with headaches, you want relief.

But neck pain and headaches can have many contributing factors. Depending on the person, it can be helpful to consider how the shoulders, upper back, breathing, and overall movement patterns factor into an exercise routine.

That's one reason I don't automatically hand a client a list of exercises and tell her to get started.

I want to understand her history, what she's experiencing, what she's worried about, and what she wants to keep doing.

Therese had experienced accidents and injuries throughout her life. She was also determined to keep exercising, teaching yoga, and picking up her grandchildren.

We needed to find an approach that respected her concerns while helping her work toward those goals.

My goal isn't to tell a woman to push through pain. It's to help her find an appropriate starting point, build strength progressively, and learn how to adjust when something doesn't feel right.

How We Helped Therese Build Strength

There wasn't one magic exercise or technique that made the difference. We used several approaches and adjusted her training as she progressed.

1. We worked on body awareness and tension management

We incorporated the four Rs of MELT: Reconnect, Rebalance, Rehydrate, and Release.

I taught Therese techniques she could use as part of her self-care routine to become more aware of tension and movement in areas including her neck and lower back.

We also incorporated MELT NeuroStrength, which uses specific techniques and movements to work on neurological stability and movement control.

These techniques were one part of her overall approach, alongside strength training and the other adjustments we made along the way.

2. We worked on breathing and stability during strength training

One thing I taught Therese was how to coordinate her breathing with her movements while lifting.

Your core does more than tighten your abdominal muscles. Learning to coordinate your breath and trunk muscles during an exercise can help you manage stability as you move and lift.

We practiced bringing those skills into her strength training, along with movements to work on control and stability around her shoulders, pelvis, and what we call the “reflexive core” in MELT.

The goal was to help her feel more confident in how she was moving, rather than simply telling her to brace harder or try to keep every muscle tight.

3. We started where she was and progressed gradually

When Therese first started working with me, I believe she was using 5-pound dumbbells for her chest press.

Today, she's pressing 30-pound dumbbells.

That's a significant change!

And it's a great example of why starting with light weights doesn't mean you have to stay there.

To build and maintain muscle as we age, we need to give our muscles an appropriate challenge and gradually progress as we're able. That doesn't mean everyone needs to lift the same amount or rush to heavier weights.

It means finding the right level of challenge for your body and building from there, with appropriate technique, individualized programming, and attention to how your body responds.

4. We adjusted when something wasn't working

There's another part of working with Therese that I want to share because it says a lot about how I coach.

A client once told me, “I don't give up.”

She was talking about me!

Sometimes an exercise doesn't feel right, or a client struggles to find the right movement or muscle engagement. Instead of expecting her to keep trying harder, I'll look for another way to approach it.

That might mean changing the exercise, adjusting her position, using a different cue, or taking a step back to work on a skill before progressing.

My job isn't to force you into an exercise that doesn't work for your body. It's to figure out what does work for you and help you build from there.

That individualized approach matters, especially when a woman is already nervous about getting hurt.

The Results: Stronger for the Things That Matter

For Therese, the changes haven't just been about lifting heavier weights.

She's able to carry her grandson, lift him from his crib with ease, move heavy boxes, continue teaching yoga, and enjoy activities that are important to her.

She has also experienced meaningful improvements in her neck pain and headaches. If she experiences a neck ache, she has tools she can use as part of managing her symptoms and supporting her recovery.

One of the highlights she shared with me was playing nine holes of golf for the first time in ten years without a headache or achy neck muscles the following day.

That's a big deal, especially when you consider how much her symptoms had affected her in the past.

Her experience is her own, and everyone's situation is different. But her story illustrates why I believe it's worth exploring an individualized approach rather than assuming that a history of pain means you have to give up on building strength.

Here's how Therese describes her experience.

In Therese's Words

“I was very concerned about hurting my neck when I began working with Maria. Working 12-hour shifts and being a mom of busy high schoolers, I feared getting terrible headaches from lifting weights.

“I've noticed tremendous changes since I started working with Maria. I can carry my grandson, lift him from his crib with ease, even lift heavy boxes and carry them a good distance. I never wake up anymore in the middle of the night with terrible upper back and neck pain.

“I played 9 holes of golf for the first time in 10 years without a headache or achy neck muscles the next day. It's a miracle considering how crippling my headaches had become.

“I would encourage everyone to start lifting weights with a qualified coach like Maria! Start slowly, learn proper breathing and stabilization techniques like MELT NeuroStrength. Having Maria's cues to slow down, use correct muscles and my breath has been the key to my success in being headache-free.

“Today I'm strong and not afraid to lift heavy weights with Maria's help keeping me safe from injury and successful in being strong.”

You Don't Have to Figure It Out on Your Own

Maybe you've been thinking it's time to build muscle, protect your strength as you age, and take a more active role in your health.

But when you think about lifting weights, you worry about your neck, an old injury, or making something worse.

I want you to know that you don't have to figure out the next step on your own.

You deserve an approach that considers your body, your history, your goals, and the life you want to keep living.

I work with women online through two coaching options:

Strong After 50 Private Coaching

If you'd like individualized guidance, we can work together to develop an approach that takes your goals, experience, abilities, and concerns into account.

Strong After 50 Collective

If you'd like a group coaching community, the Collective gives you four self-paced modules, twice-monthly live sessions, coaching calls where you can ask questions and share your wins, MELT and MELT NeuroStrength pop-up classes, and ongoing opportunities to get support from me.

You don't need to live near me, have a gym membership, or own a fancy home gym to explore your options. We can consider what equipment you have available and what makes sense for your circumstances.

My approach is simple: I meet you where you're at, and together we work toward where you want to go.

Ready to explore which kind of coaching might be right for you?

Once you complete the form, you'll be prompted to choose a time for your call. That gives me a chance to understand where you are, what you're looking for, and how I may be able to help.

You don't have to wait until you're stronger or more confident to start asking questions.

Let's talk about where you are now and what's possible from here.

About Maria

Maria helps women 50+ lose weight, build muscle, improve energy and sleep, and reduce aches and pains so they can live active, healthy lives long term. Her work focuses on building muscle safely and keeping blood sugar steady.