As you age, wear and tear raises your risk of injury and illness, especially for women after 40. Oestrogen levels plummet with menopause, which can cause rapid loss of muscle mass, bone density and metabolic rate, and contribute to ‘meno belly’.
This is primarily an accumulation of visceral fat which is highly inflammatory and metabolically active, and is linked to higher risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver and high blood pressure, says Marvin Jacobs, a biokineticist at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.
The best way to offset these effects is to eat a healthy, balanced diet and get regular exercise – especially strength training, which has important benefits.
1. Strength training helps preserve muscle
From your thirties, women start to lose muscle at a rate of 3–8% a decade, and this increases after age 60, often resulting in reduced mobility, frailty and a greater risk of falls. “Strength training, in combination with a diet that’s relatively high in protein, is a primary way of combating this,” says Jacobs. Strength training forces your muscles to work against resistance (gravity, weights, bands or machines), causing microscopic tears that repair and grow stronger, helping you not only retain but build lean muscle mass, enabling ongoing mobility, flexibility, better posture and balance.
2. It protects your bones
Bones lose density as you age, becoming weaker and more prone to fracture. Strength training can help reduce the rate of bone loss and promote new bone formation. A 2025 study published in the journal Bone found that just a year of heavy resistance training improved bone formation in older adults.
3. It protects your heart
As you age, blood vessels tend to stiffen, forcing your heart to work harder to pump blood through them and increasing your risk of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions. Cardio exercise such as running, cycling, swimming and brisk walking are important for heart health, but so is strength training, says Jacobs. “It helps with reducing blood pressure, managing weight, increasing metabolism and lowering risk factors for heart attacks, strokes and other diseases.”
4. It helps you maintain a healthy weight
Your metabolism slows as you age, which can lead to weight gain. “Strength training is highly effective for maintaining your weight and body composition by building muscle mass, which boosts metabolism,” says Jacobs. Because muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat, it helps you burn more kilojoules at rest, making it easier to maintain a steady weight over time.
5. It helps protect your brain
Brain volume shrinks with age, which can affect your thinking ability and memory. “Regular cardio exercise is associated with better brain function, lessening stress and depression, which affect memory,” says Klerksdorp-based biokineticist Isabeau van Heerden. If you add resistance training, this can protect the hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for short-term and long-term memory and for learning, she says. It can also protect the precuneus region, a core hub of the brain that connects different networks, often described as crucial for self-awareness, memory and navigating space.
6. It may also help your skin
As you age, skin thins and loses elasticity, along with some of the structure and thickness of its dermis (middle layer). A 2023 study in the journal Scientific Reports found resistance training can help rejuvenate skin by reducing inflammation, improving elasticity, dermal structure and dermal thickness.
Tips to get started
Women over 40 should aim for 2–3 strength-training sessions a week, focusing on all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms), says Van Heerden. Sessions should ideally last 30–60 minutes, focusing on proper form, with at least one rest day between working the same muscle groups to allow for recovery.
“At this stage of life, the benefits of strength training for women often outweigh those of prolonged cardio,” she says. “Excessive cardio sessions may contribute to fatigue, muscle loss and a more aged appearance over time.”
If you’re new to strength training, start with an instructor who can draw up a personalised programme for your needs and ensure you are using the right form.
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