This is how a 50-something trainer changed how he lifts weights to protect his joints

By the time we get to midlife, many of us have accumulated injuries, aches and pains that can cause problems in the gym.

These issues can be off-putting, but they shouldn’t stop you from starting a new workout routine—or continuing to enjoy the one you already have.

This is something personal trainer and founder of Fit in Midlife, Jason Smith, learned for himself when he got fit again at 50.

Smith now regularly trains people in the same age bracket as himself, who face similar challenges.

Here are his top five tips for building strength in your 50s, whether you are picking up weights for the first time or returning to the gym after a decades-long hiatus.

1. Lift lighter but with better technique

Smith advises against picking up the heaviest weight you possibly can when you first step into the gym.

“A much better way of training is to really focus on the technique that you use,” he says. “The way I train people is using a lighter weight, but really focusing on the form and technique.”

Getting your form and technique right will help you target the correct muscles for each move and reduce your risk of injury.

Smith says it’s also important to make sure you are getting the full range of movement when you do an exercise.

For example, when doing a bench press, it’s important to fully lower the weights until they’re touching (or nearly touching) your chest, then fully extend your arms when you lift the weights.

This helps you build end-of-range strength, which means you feel strong even in a position where your joint is at its deepest stretch.

2. Keep your tempo slow and controlled

A lot of trainers recommend moving explosively when doing the concentric phase of an exercise.

This means that during the part of an exercise where your muscles are contracting and your body is working against resistance—such as lifting your arm during a biceps curl—you quickly apply the maximum amount of force to complete the movement.

Typically, most trainers also recommend doing the opposite during the eccentric phase of an exercise. So you slow things down when your muscles are elongated and you’re lowering your weight to the starting position.

However, for those in midlife, Smith recommends keeping all your movements slow, steady and controlled. No explosive power at all.

“This increases the time that the muscles are under tension, which makes them work harder and also means that you've got no sudden movement that could affect the joints, ligaments and tendons,” he explains.

Smith says that when you lift like this, your muscles will fatigue quickly, which is how they are encouraged to grow.

3. Mind-muscle connection

Smith says it’s beneficial to try and concentrate on the muscles that should be firing during an exercise.

“Focusing your mind on the muscles that you are using in a particular exercise stops other muscles from getting engaged,” he explains.

When we engage muscles that aren’t supposed to be recruited for a particular movement, this can lead to injury because they end up carrying a load they aren’t strong enough to carry.

“The more conscious you are about your exercise, the more you eliminate risk,” Smith explains. “The key thing with training in midlife is to be incredibly effective but with minimum risk.”

4. Work with a preexisting injury, not against it

It’s not uncommon to have aches, pains and injuries by midlife.

“A lot of the people that I train have got some form of complication and they will quite regularly report that they’ve had trainers getting them to do exercises that aren’t appropriate,” says Smith. “It's not because the trainer is being dangerous, it's just that they don’t know.”

Instead of encouraging clients to do exercises that put additional stress on their problem areas, Smith focuses on building supporting strength around weak spots.

And if an exercise does cause pain or problems, Smith helps his clients to find an exercise that works the same areas, but doesn’t trigger complications.

5. Don’t lift with your ego

This piece of advice applies to people of all ages—and it’s important if you want to avoid injury in the gym.

“We’re driven by ego,” says Smith. “We want to lift as much as we can to impress ourselves, impress our mates and keep chasing personal bests.”

While deadlifting the heaviest weight you can is impressive, Smith advises that doing this regularly is entirely inappropriate for those in midlife.

“The simple reason for that is that it’s not just about the muscles, it’s about the joints, ligaments and tendons,” he says.

“If you overstrain any of those things, then you are likely to end up injured.”