Why does everyone keep saying to lift weights?

If you'd asked me before I started researching this piece whether weight training matters as we age, I'd have given you a firm yes without hesitation. It's something I genuinely believe in, and I hold pretty strong views on it. So my goal here wasn't really to convince myself, it was to see whether those beliefs actually hold up against the research, and maybe to learn something new along the way.

What's interesting is just how central weight training has become to the wider conversation around women's health, ageing and perimenopause, which made me wonder whether I'd come out the other side of this still believing what I believe now, or whether something might shift.

Let's see where I land by the end.

What happens to our muscles as we age?

Losing muscle and strength is a natural part of ageing, particularly if we're not giving our muscles a reason to stay. The decline tends to be gradual at first, often starting in our thirties, before speeding up considerably from around fifty, with research suggesting we can lose somewhere between 1% and 2% of our muscle mass each year from that point onwards.

There are two terms worth knowing; muscle atrophy, which refers to muscle tissue being lost through lack of use, and sarcopenia, which is the broader, age-related decline in muscle mass, strength and function that tends to accelerate in our sixties and seventies.

For women, there's an additional layer to this. Perimenopause and menopause typically begin somewhere from the age of 40 and the hormonal changes that come with it appear to play a direct role in how quickly we lose muscle mass and strength during this time.

Beyond hormones, the other big contributors are the ones we hear about often, moving less than we used to, poor nutrition like not getting enough protein, and the general impact of inflammation and other health conditions as we age.

Isn't walking enough?

Yes and no. Walking has a huge number of benefits, but a long, healthy life seems to depend on both strong aerobic fitness and strong muscles, and those are two different things with two different jobs.

Aerobic fitness, the kind walking builds, tends to predict how long we live. It's one of the most powerful tools we have for protecting against heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cognitive decline and dementia, while also supporting mental wellbeing, sleep, bone density and healthy ageing generally.

Muscle, on the other hand, tends to predict how well we live. Weight training is what helps preserve muscle mass and bone density as we age, and it even strengthens the legs in a way that improves walking itself, so the two aren't really in competition. If anything, they support each other.

So walking absolutely matters, it's just doing a different job to weight training.

What's the difference between weight training and resistance training, and which one is better for me?

Weight training is a type of resistance training, rather than something different. Resistance training is the broader term, covering any exercise where your muscles work against some kind of force, whether that's dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells, resistance bands, cable machines, or simply your own body weight. Weight training specifically refers to the version that uses external weights.

In terms of which is "better", weight training seems to be favoured as it allows for the gradual increase of demand placed on your muscles over time (progressive overload), which is one of the most effective ways to build strength, but that doesn't mean resistance training without weights isn't valuable.

If you're a beginner, recovering from an injury, or living with something like arthritis, building strength using resistance bands or bodyweight movements is a really safe place to start, and weights can always be introduced later if and when your body feels ready.

Will lifting weights help with perimenopause symptoms?

Weight gain is something many women notice during perimenopause, often linked to gradual loss of oestrogen.

When I went looking for research specifically on weight training and perimenopause symptoms, hot flushes, insomnia, brain fog and mood, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount out there. Most of the research focuses on bone density and muscle mass rather than the symptoms that tend to bother us most day to day.

What there is, though, is reassuring. Strength training on its own appears to bring about real improvements in strength, activity levels, bone density and the hormonal and metabolic changes that come with perimenopause, compared with not exercising at all.

There's also some evidence that weight training and similar exercise can support mental health more broadly, though this tends to sit within general physical activity rather than weight training alone.

So while the specific research connecting weight training to symptoms like hot flushes or insomnia is still thin, the wider picture supports something most of us probably suspected anyway. It seems to help, even if the why isn't always fully mapped out yet.

Will I get bulky?

Getting bulky is possible, but only if that's specifically what you're working towards. It takes intentional training, a deliberate eating approach, usually more food rather than less, progressive overload, and a lot of consistency over time. None of that happens by accident.

If bulk isn't what you're after, it's very unlikely you'll wake up one day with muscles you didn't intend to build. What you're far more likely to notice is something subtler, a bit more shape, a bit more strength, the kind of change that shows up in how you feel rather than how you look. If you do want more visible muscle definition at some point, that's something you'd work towards on purpose, not something that creeps up on you.

Is my body still capable of changing at this age?

Yes.

Our bodies remain genuinely capable of building muscle, improving bone density and boosting cardiovascular health well past 40. Resistance training increases both strength and muscle size, and "size" here doesn't mean bulk, it simply means the muscle becoming a little firmer and more defined rather than dramatically larger.

There's also research suggesting that staying physically active may help protect the brain as we age, something researchers are continuing to explore.

Closer to home, research looking specifically at free weight training in perimenopausal women found it to be both safe and effective, with women training twice a week seeing improvements in their strength, an increase in muscle mass, and a decrease in fat mass.

So if you've been wondering whether it's too late, or whether your body has somehow stopped being able to adapt and change, the evidence says otherwise. It hasn't.

Can't I just eat more protein to preserve my muscle?

Not really, on its own.

Muscles need a reason to hold onto themselves, some kind of signal that tells the body this tissue is worth keeping, and that signal tends to come from movement, particularly strength training. Protein alone might help you hang onto some of what you already have, but without that signal, it won't help you build anything new.

That doesn't mean protein doesn't matter though, it just works better alongside movement rather than in place of it. Research looking at people trying to loose weight found that eating more protein did help protect muscle, even if it didn't make much difference to strength or how the body felt day to day. Roughly speaking, eating too little protein seems to make muscle loss more likely, while eating a bit more gives your body the raw materials it needs, if it also has a reason to use them.

So really, protein and movement are a bit of a team. One gives the muscle what it needs, the other gives it something to do with it.

Do I need a gym to start?

Not at all.

A pair of dumbbells and a small bit of space is genuinely enough to begin. If you're just starting out, a light set, around 2.5kg, and a slightly heavier set, around 5kg, gives you room to grow into it as you get stronger.

If you'd rather use machines, or simply don't have the space at home, most gyms offer an introductory session where someone will talk through your goals and show you how everything works. Going at a quieter time can help while you find your feet, and going with a friend takes a lot of the pressure off too.

It's worth remembering that everyone in that gym was once exactly where you are now, a little unsure, maybe a little nervous. Gym anxiety is real, and incredibly common.

How much do I need to do, and how often?

A good rule of thumb for beginners is to aim for moderate intensity resistance training twice a week. From there, progress happens gradually, adding a little more weight, increasing how many repetitions you do, and eventually adding another day if it feels right. For a lot of women, three days a week ends up being the sweet spot, enough to see real change without it taking over your life.

Muscle loss is a natural part of ageing, beginning gradually from the age of 30 and progressing more rapidly during peri and post menopause. While we can't stop the ageing process, we can influence how we age. Walking and weight training are two of the most effective tools we have: one supports longevity, while the other preserves strength and function. We need both.

Where the research feels thinner is around perimenopause symptoms specifically, but the case for bone density alone is strong enough to pay attention to, especially as oestrogen declines and that risk increases.

What ties all of this together is that none of it seems to have an expiry date. The body remains capable of change well past 40, and while protein alone won't build muscle, paired with some resistance training, even twice a week, it gives the body exactly what it needs.

If you'd asked me before I started this whether weight training matters as we age, I'd have given you a hard yes without a second thought. And honestly, after everything I've read, nothing has really changed there. If anything, I feel more sure of it than when I started.

What did shift a little was my understanding of why. Muscle loss is real, and it starts earlier than I’d realised, but what struck me is that there doesn't seem to be a point where it's too late, or where our bodies just stop responding. That study of over 300,000 people kept coming back to me, the idea that starting at 40, or 50, or 60, still counts and I hope, if it’s a question you’ve been asking, that it offers you some reassurance.

Personally, I think weight training as we age should be less about aesthetics and more about building our old lady bodies; bone density, balance, posture, blood sugar, mood, confidence, all of it. The choices we make today shape our ability when we’re older to carry the shopping in from the car, get up off the floor without needing help, walk down stairs without being fearful of a fall. The goal is to stay strong, healthy and independent for as long as possible.

Until the next edition,

Jamine
Editor, MIDLIFE
midlifeedition.co

_Sources:

_{Muscles loss:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1155/2012/158279
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3940510/
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/nutritional-influences-on-agerelated-skeletal-muscle-loss/DE7E1CE362B5A3A1B3CCB05E7A1CF23C
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9772844/}

_{Walking:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-023-00873-8
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.7326/0003-4819-124-6-199603150-00005
https://longevity.foundation/tpost/312nu8dhs1-cardio-or-weights-for-longevity}

_{Perimenopause symptoms:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12008710/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9864448/
https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/menopause-exercise}

_{Exercise and age:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30848809/
https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/news/increased-exercise-in-midlife-linked-with-better-brain-health-in-later-life/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10559623/}

_{Protein:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39002131/}

_{How to:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10559623/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/strong-is-the-new-skinny}