The Life-Changing Power of Lifting Weights

For a long time, weightlifting was relegated to the realm of muscle heads, and Conan the Barbarian-types. Now, people of all ages and sizes are lifting to gain strength and help their bodies thrive for decades to come. Weight training improves not only strength, but also mobility, bone density, cardiovascular health, and even cognitive function.

On this episode, we explore the proven and emerging benefits of pumping iron, and why so many people say it’s changing their lives. We hear about when and how weightlifting was introduced into the medical and cultural mainstreams — not just for bodybuilders, but for people of all fitness levels, the woman who broke down the door to the boys’ powerlifting club, and how one author says strength training transformed her relationship with her body.

ALSO HEARD:

• We talk with author Michael Joseph Gross about the physician who introduced weightlifting as a form of physical therapy for injured World War II soldiers, the ancient origins of the myth that big muscles equal a small brain, and how research shows strength training can change the lives and health of older people. His new book is “Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in our Lives.”
• When Jan Todd first started lifting weights in the early 1970s, it wasn’t just rare to see women pumping iron — it was even prohibited at the first few gyms Todd went to. But, within a few years, she had established herself as a trailblazer in the world of powerlifting, setting dozens of world records and opening the door for other female lifters. Reporter Sara Willa Ernst talks with Todd about how she got into weightlifting at a time when it was primarily regarded as a men’s sport, and how its evolution has helped change perceptions around female bodies, strength, and muscles.
• For years, Casey Johnston dedicated herself to a punishing routine of dieting and cardio in an effort to achieve her perfect feminine physique: long and lean. It wasn’t until her late 20s that she began to consider weightlifting, a form of exercise she’d previously shunned out of fear that it would bulk her up. We hear from Johnston about how her journey with weightlifting transformed not only how her body looked, but how she thought about it. Her book is “A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting.”
• We visit a City Fitness gym in Philadelphia to observe a weight training session with Sandy Cadwalader, 77, and her coach, Kevin Rimler. Cadwalader trains twice a week and says it keeps her fit and mobile.