02/04/2026
It’s also incredibly satisfying! As the ladies who attend my Women’s Strength Classes will agree 💪🏋🏻♀️
Fewer than 1 in 5 women over 50 meet the guidelines for muscle-strengthening activity. For women over 65 it's closer to 1 in 10!
We have the largest body of evidence we've ever had, showing that resistance training improves strength, muscle mass, power, bone density, and physical function across the lifespan. The ACSM Position Stand (Currier et al., 2026) synthesized 137 systematic reviews covering over 30,000 participants, and the conclusion is unambiguous: resistance training works. For everyone. At every age. And you don't need to go maximally heavy. Moderate loads, 30 to 70% of your max, enhance hypertrophy. Variable prescription works. The key is consistency and progressive challenge, not perfection.
And yet the vast majority of women never touch a weight.
This isn't a knowledge problem. It's a messaging problem. For decades, women have been told that cardio is their lane. Weights will make them "bulky." That bone loss and muscle loss after menopause are inevitable. None of that is true.
Menopause does not accelerate muscle loss. When you control for physical activity and age, the supposed acceleration largely disappears (Menzies et al., 2026). The driver is disuse, not hormones (Phillips, 2026). Menopausal hormone therapy changes lean mass by a grand total of 0.06 kg across 12 RCTs and 4,474 women (Javed et al.). That's 60 grams. Not meaningful.
The single most effective thing a woman in midlife can do for her muscle, her bone, her metabolic health, her function, and her independence is pick up something heavy-ish and put it down again. Repeatedly. Once-twice a week, at a minimum.
You don't need a special program. You don't need a supplement stack. You don't need to train like a powerlifter. You don't NEED to LHS! You can if you want, but it's a matter of choice and goals.
You need to start. That's it. Just start.
The gateway to better health in the second half of life isn't a pill, a powder, or a protocol. It's a barbell. Or a dumbbell. Or a kettlebell. Or a band. Or your own bodyweight.
Any resistance training is better than none. And right now, for the majority of women, "none" is exactly what they're doing.
Let's change that!
Currier BS et al. (2026). ACSM Position Stand. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 137 systematic reviews, >30,000 participants.
Menzies FM et al. (2026). J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.70232
Phillips SM. (2026). J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.70248
Javed AA et al. MHT meta-analysis. 12 RCTs, 4,474 women.
CDC/National Health Interview Survey (2020). Muscle-strengthening activity participation data.
