APEX PWR  |  Lessons in Longevity  |  Vol. 75

Strength Training in Tigard, Oregon: Age Is Not the Barrier

A study circulating in the fitness science community this month is reframing how a lot of people think about age and training. Published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, the research looked at strength training adaptations in untrained adults across different age groups. The headline conclusion, flagged by the strength science educators at @gaingoat on Instagram earlier this month: untrained older adults gained strength at the same rate as untrained younger adults.

The authors' own language is appropriately careful. They use the word suggesting. One study does not remake a field. But this one is not landing in a vacuum. It adds to a body of evidence that is now more than three decades deep. And everything it suggests lines up with what we have watched play out on our gym floor at APEX PWR in Tigard, Oregon for nearly 12 years.

What the Research Actually Says

Let's zoom out. The idea that older adults cannot meaningfully get stronger has been wrong for a long time. The question is not whether strength training works in older adults. It is why so many people still do not believe it.

That is the new one. Here is the study that effectively started the conversation 35 years ago, and is still one of the most-cited in the field.

Three studies, across three decades, with different methods, different populations, different countries. The conclusion is the same. Strength training works at any age. What changes with age is how quickly untrained people decide to do something about it.

What We See Every Day in Tigard, Oregon

Research is useful. Lived evidence in front of you, week after week, is harder to argue with. After nearly 12 years of coaching, physical therapy, and wellness testing in Tigard, three patterns show up constantly. Each one catches people off guard.

1. The DEXA Scan Moment

The DEXA scan is the gold standard for body composition measurement. It tells you exactly how much lean mass you have, exactly how much fat, and where it sits in your body. We offer DEXA scans on-site in Tigard, and we use them to track changes over time.

The moment we see over and over again is the second or third scan for a new strength training client in their 50s, 60s, or 70s. They expected maintenance. What they see is lean mass they did not know they could still build. Visceral fat reduced. Bone density improved. The scale sometimes tells a confusing story. The DEXA does not.

That moment reframes what people believe is possible for their own body. It is almost always the turning point.

2. Building Muscle During Physical Therapy

Most people walk into physical therapy expecting pain management. Ice, stretching, bands, maybe some manual work. A four-to-six-month rehab timeline. They are not expecting to build muscle.

At APEX, strength-based rehabilitation is the model. Our physical therapists use progressive loading alongside the pain and mobility work, because the research is clear: muscle is protective. Rehabbing without rebuilding strength is how people end up back on the PT table six months later with the same problem.

Clients routinely leave a structured PT cycle with more lean mass than they started with. That is not a bonus outcome. That is the point. And it is the main reason our PT clients typically finish in weeks rather than months, with lower re-injury rates on the back end.

3. The Personal and Group Training Consistency Effect

Our personal training and adult group training programs are where long-term change happens. 60 year olds out-lifting their own expectations at two years in. Clients in their 70s squatting, deadlifting, and pressing with form that would embarrass people half their age.

The common denominator is not genetics. It is not starting young. It is showing up two to four times per week, with professional coaching, for long enough that adaptation stacks. The research says strength is trainable at any age. The gym says yes, as long as you actually train.

Bob Deasy, Age 71, Plant-Based, Still Getting Stronger

Bob Deasy is one of our founding adult group training members and probably the most direct answer we can give anyone who thinks they are too old for strength training. Bob started our 12-Week Nutrition Challenge at age 70, on a plant-based diet, with a goal of getting lean and strong enough to stop qualifying for a statin prescription. He worked with our staff nutritionist, Jennie Carolan, MS, while continuing his regular 6:30 AM strength training classes at APEX.

12 weeks later, his DEXA scan told the story:

Bob lost fat and built muscle at the same time. On a plant-based diet. At 70 years old. He is now 71 and still progressing. The full story is in our original member spotlight, Bob Deasy's transformation at 70, and the short version is this: the combination of structured strength training and professional nutrition coaching is what actually moves body composition at any age.

If Bob had walked into a gym alone at 70, he might have gotten a little stronger. Possibly. Paired with a coach and a plan, he reshaped his body and significantly reduced his own cardiovascular risk markers in three months.

Why Most People Do Not Get Strong

Not because of age. Not because of genetics. Not because they are too far gone.

Most people do not get strong because they have never been taught how, they are nervous to start in front of strangers, or they got hurt once trying it alone and wrote themselves off. Every one of those is a coaching problem, not a body problem.

That is why we built the Strength Training Foundations Trial here in Tigard. It is our dedicated on-ramp for adults who have never really learned to lift, who want to start safely, and who want professional coaching without committing to a long membership before they know whether it is for them.

Inside the trial:

• You learn the major lifts under a coach's eye, with safe progression
• You train alongside other adults in the same stage of their journey
• You walk out understanding your own baseline and what the next 90 days could realistically look like
• You have direct access to our physical therapy team if anything comes up
• You can layer in nutrition coaching and DEXA scanning when you are ready

The Bottom Line

The research keeps saying the same thing, louder each year. Strength is trainable. Muscle is protective. Your age is not the barrier you have been told it is.

What you are missing is not a younger body. What you are missing is coaching, a plan, and a room full of people doing the same thing you are about to do. Those are the pieces APEX PWR has been assembling in Tigard, Oregon for nearly 12 years. The combination works.

Whether you have never touched a barbell, you are rehabbing a knee that has not felt right in a decade, or you are 70 years old on a plant-based diet like Bob and ready to reshape your body, the starting point is the same. Walk in. Get coached. Train consistently. Let the adaptations stack.

That is not hope. That is data.

The APEX Team

Related Resources

• Strength Training Foundations Trial in Tigard, Oregon
• Adult Group Strength Training Classes
• 1-on-1 Personal Training
• Physical Therapy in Tigard, Oregon
• DEXA Scan (Gold Standard Body Composition Testing)
• Nutrition Services with Jennie Carolan, MS
• Bob Deasy's Transformation at Age 70 (LLv21)