'Very empowering': Cape Cod women getting stronger after 40 at Hyannis gym. Here's how.

HYANNIS — Six inches may not seem like a tall step, but it represents a milestone for Karen Townsend.

Working with a personal trainer at Quench Training for Women, the 77-year-old East Dennis resident was doing step exercises as part of a strengthening program following three major operations. Designed to improve her balance, develop lower body strength and stability in her hips, the exercises helped her feel better physically and mentally.

“It’s incalculable,” Townsend said of the benefits of her workouts during a May 22 interview. "It makes me feel strong and independent."

Townsend is one of about 200 members of Quench Training for Women. The gym is geared towards women over forty. That demographic comes with physical and physiological changes and hormone loss that occur after menopause. It’s a population that’s been left behind in the fitness industry, according to Quench owner Jillian Russo.

“It's a forgotten group,” Russo said. “It’s a group with the biggest need.”

Russo practically grew up in a gym. Her mother, Susan Taylor, owned the Women’s Workout Company for 35 years. Russo’s father, Thomas Plummer, was the director of the National Fitness Business Alliance. He led workshops for business owners in the fitness industry.

Quench targets fitness for women over 40

Russo’s goal with Quench is to target women over 40 who are at risk of losing muscle and bone loss, especially with the onset of menopause. Resistance and strength training combined with adequate protein intake has been shown to stimulate muscle and bone growth, according to Wayne Westcott, retired chairman of the Exercise Science program at Quincy College.

Women aged 50 and older lose an average of one pound of muscle a year if they are inactive, Westcott said. That muscle loss can lead to bone loss. The good news is that with strength training and adequate protein intake, muscle and bone can be rebuilt, he said.

“When you lose muscle you lose bone,” Westcott said. “If women don’t do resistance exercises in later years they could have 3% bone loss every year. That’s a lot."

The key to maintaining muscle and bone density is to do some type of resistance exercise, he said. Westcott points to academic studies with the Boston Medical Center and Harvard University to back him up. Those studies show that men and women can gain muscle and bone with strength and resistance training, and that men and women were found to lose more fat than gain muscle. Subjects' body composition changed. While the weight loss wasn't huge, the fact that muscle was built, and fat lost, were significant.

“That’s why we don’t look at the scale,” Westcott said.

Quench's layout geared to fun and education

Quench takes up 5,000 square feet in the Village Marketplace off Stevens Street. The layout is intentional, Russo said. The light-filled entry offers comfortable chairs, a juice bar, shelves with merchandise, and leads to a spin room with several stationary bikes.

Kettlebells, dumbbells, weight plates, and barbells share another room with punching bags, step platforms and Concept 2 SkiErg machines. Colorful murals cover some walls.

“I wanted to create an opportunity and space that presented strength training in a fun, educational atmosphere that focused on weightlifting,” she said. “We want you to walk in and know that we are strength training here.”

Taylor is quick to point out that strength training is not the same as body building. She said strengthening muscle improves skeletal support, likening muscle to a full body girdle — without the pinch. And while the gym does offer some cardio equipment, the focus is more on high intensity workouts with repetition than on long duration workouts on bikes or treadmills.

"Cardio is very important for the cardiovascular system from an endurance perspective," Westcott said. "Running, swimming, and biking have lower intensity and longer duration. That doesn’t build bone or muscle very well."

It's personal approach, the slow and steady start to strength training, the small wins that set Quench apart, Russo said.

"Strength training is very empowering," Russo said. "When they start bicep curls with seven-pound weights and end the month doing 12.5-pound weights, that’s massive for your mental health."

Not to mention the benefits for muscles and bones.

Denise Coffey writes about business, tourism and issues impacting the Cape’s residents and visitors. Contact her at [email protected] . 

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Strength training after 40: Hyannis gym is tailored to older women