Please just be careful. You don't need an injury right as you begin your new life's adventure - retirement. I really don't know how much I can lift, but my back is not in especially good shape and I know not strong. I've done my usual easing off exercising in winter as I often do and will pay for it come gardening weather if I don't begin to pay attention soon.

I think 41 pounds and up a couple of stairs would be hard for me. A 25# bag of a garden amendment is about as far as I go without calling for DH or one of his friends. So grateful for friends ;) Much of anything too heavy to handle or too high on a ladder to be comfortable and I'm on the phone calling younger friends or strong nephews....

Sounds like a lot of work Kath! You might want to break down the rest of the boxes and carry in half a box at a time. Half the weight but twice as many trips in and out.

I remember in my early 40s when I tiled the finished part of my basement and had to carry in enough tile to cover a 22' by 55' area down 14 steps from the garage to the basement. Not fun, but at least I had gravity on my side. lol

I got in trouble with UPS once. Apparently I can lift more than 70 pounds (their weight limit). Oops!

You can do whatever you want to do. It's your retirement. Are you going to work your way up to deadlift?

How you are able to grasp something makes a difference on how much you can lift. A 40 pound box is harder to lift than a forty pound bag of feed. A forty pound child seems light by comparison. I never had good upper body strength. But I've built my core up through riding and ranch stuff. I can lift much more now even though my arms are not strong. I also learned the ergonomics of lifting heavier items by using momentum, swinging a saddle up on a horse rather than raising it. I use the same principles when have to load cases of water or bags of feed in the back of my truck. I am too short to lift up and over but I can swing up and over.

Why not open the boxes and carry half the tiles (20 lbs) in at a time?

You probably have moved all of them by now but you might have found putting the boxes individually on an old tarp or blanket at the top of the steps then dragging them one at a time into the house somewhat easier than carrying it. You do need to be careful when you are pulling not to fall over or trip on something. Having done both I alternate pulling from each side so that I am facing forward or bringing the blanket to the front of my waist then use my body to drag it.

Rob333, I just want to be stronger, so no. No deadlifting. I've always had weak arms/upper body but I'm sure with my sedentary job these last 6 or so years, my entire body has gotten weak.

It's gotten so bad that I can't life a large bag of dogfood, 33 pounds into a shopping cart anymore. I now have it delivered from either Walmart or Chewy and I drag it in from my front porch. My flooring is Pergo so it slides easily into the kitchen where it is stored.

I didn't think about unboxing it and taking half in at at time. I opened one box to look at it but didn't want to open all the boxes. Going to try a couple more boxes now so I'll decide if I should just take them in half at a time.

Do half at a time for sure...don't hurt yourself or you could be sorry for a very very long time.

Last year, I was splitting wood with a 10lb sledge and wedges, but since my back/hip issues, I can't do that any more. And the 40lb bags of bird seed are beyond me as well.

At least when you're retired you have more time to do things and take twice as long, like splitting the boxes in 2 before carrying them. 2 trips are better than one.

I think I'll do the last 3 boxes half a box at a time. Especially since they're in the passenger side seat of the front of my car. Going to be awkward getting them out as it is.

I agree to always divide things up if you must deliver things yourself.

Oh, it depends on the size, shape, and flexibility, not just the weight! I can pick up a 40 lb bag or pea gravel, put it on one shoulder, and carry it out to my car in the parking lot, but I can't pick up a 2' wide box that weighs 40 lb and carry it more than a few yards (and definitely not up any steps). I can pick up a 12 pound turkey with ease, but it's not nearly as easy when it's frozen.

I have (and continue to collect) a whole bunch of tools that make moving heavy and awkward things more manageable - things like hand dollies and carts, or shoulder straps. Also, use whatever leverage you can, and use gravity and physics to your advantage. Put heavy things on a tarp or blanket, and they'll be easier to pull. Leverage up one corner, then slide it on to a hand dolly, or rotate it into position.

There are definitely ways to increase your upper body strength, but don't neglect your core back and abdominal muscles. Because my volunteer job involves lots of lifting of heavy boxes, I've been working on that for years with my Pilates instructor, because if you don't use it you will lose it.

Remember: Strong women live longer.

Well, they are all in the house now. I opened the first box and when lifting two of the tiles up I hit my head on the roof of the car. After that box was in, I "walked" the other two into the house and into the living room. It was really awkward trying to open the straps on the boxes in the car since the car door was a little too close to the garage wall. Oh, well, it's done now.

A case of butter at work is 50 pounds and I can lift it up and put it on a cart. Don't ask me to walk with it. That isn't going to happen for more than a couple feet.

My niece on the other hand, can life more than double her weight and I'm very jealous.

I buy my kitty litter at Costco; a 22.7kg box (50 lb). I can heave it into the cart, and lift it out of the cart into the trunk. But when I know I'm buying it I put 3 smaller kitty litter buckets in the trunk and portion the litter from the box. 2 buckets one trip then the 3rd bucket and remaining litter in the box the last trip.

Cannot lift as much as I used to since my hernia repair 12 years ago. Nowadaze I'll load up my wheelbarrel 1/2 and make 2 trips. Can still do what needs to be done, it just takes a little longer.

Carrying something heavy up two steps is really hard for me.

Jasdip, I think the main problem with dog food bags are that the larger ones are on the bottom shelf and if it were higher up I could probably get it up and into the cart and then into the trunk of my car.

I can do 40 pretty easy. 5 gallon water jugs :) I can do a full jug in each hand from the car, up a couple stairs, into the house. I prefer not to do so, and tend to do one at a time using both hands to carry. 40-60 pound compacted bags of soil stuff I have to move one at a time- those are awkward to handle. Two string bales are usually around 60, I can move those around pretty easy. With a lever and fulcrum or block and tackle I lift a lot heavier stuff.

Beesneeds, I use straw bales in the garden. I roll them to get them close and then pull them apart and put in the garden cart to move to other parts of the garden. Compost is really hard to pick up now for me too, so it's the garden cart and just plop them out anyway I can once I've gotten them close.

50 pounds. That is how much my dog food bags weigh. I can lift and carry them up the stairs into the house without too much trouble. I have always been pretty weak in the upper body too. The other day I went to lowes to get some of those big bags of dirt to top off my raised garden beds. I was having such trouble loading them onto the cart I had to sit down. I could not hardly breathe. I guess those must weigh a lot more than 50 pounds. Luckily. someone who worked there took pity on me and helped me load the rest and then SO came and together they loaded it into the truck. SO also had to unload them at home and help me lift them up into the garden beds, which are 34 inches high. I did manage the 1 cubit foot bags of compost/manure mix by myself with no issue. for what THAT is worth. I have been saying for years that I need to strength train but I really really dislike it. I would rather walk on a treadmill for 5 hours than lift weights for 20 minutes.

I am sure that I can still lift and carry 40 lbs; some of that is residual strength from many years of working out with weights and emphasizing core strength, so that I would not get hurt at work moving patients. Some of that ability is also being well trained in good body mechanics. However, since I've slacked off, I know that I am not as strong as I used to be.

I agree with others, the shape and size of the container makes a big difference in how easily a given weight can be carried. Anything that can't be hugged close to the core is harder because it affects your center of gravity.

I am not sure. I can pick up my poodle (56 lbs) pretty easy.