The importance of strength training for women’s health

From helping to maintain a healthy weight to protecting our bones, strength training is an essential part of staying fit and well as you age.

Long gone is the outdated idea that only men can occupy the weights area at the gym, or that you’ll “bulk up” if you start lifting.

If you’re new to strength training, don’t imagine that you need to be able to lift the gigantic dumbbells that only an Olympian could hope to get off the ground. The reality is much more achievable.

Strength training involves using any weight or resistance to strengthen muscles and improve overall fitness, balance, immunity, bone density and even mental wellbeing.

But what sort of weight and resistance are effective?

The good news about strength training is that you can start with zero equipment. Your body weight can provide adequate resistance for beginners, especially when doing exercises such as push ups, squats or triceps dips.

Resistance bands are also an option. You can buy these stretchy pieces of material in several types that provide more or less resistance to suit your needs. Handheld dumbbells are also a great intro to strength training, starting from as little as 1kg in weight.

All of these strength building options can be bought quite affordably from large retailers, but if you don’t want to invest any money, you can use almost anything that you can pick up as extra weight. Think cans of food or milk containers filled with water or sand.

It’s a good idea to get some advice from a certified personal trainer or exercise physiologist before starting any new exercise program. Good form and technique are key for preventing injury and you can request a program designed for you and your needs that you can do yourself at home or in the gym.

Strength training helps to build and maintain muscle mass in our bodies. We need muscle to help our bodies perform everyday functions, such as walking, sitting, standing, and even thinking and cognition. There are more than 650 muscles in the body that work with bones to allow us to move easily and well, even into old age.¹

Strength training can also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression.²

As we age, women and people who experience menopause are more at risk of developing osteoporosis than men and people who do not. This condition results in weak bones that are prone to fractures.³ This is partly due to the drop in the hormone oestrogen during menopause, resulting in an average of 10% loss of bone density in the first 5 years post-menopause.⁴

Health guidelines recommend doing 30 to 40 minutes of exercise per day, including some weight-bearing or resistance training twice a week. As well as helping to maintain overall strength and balance, which can help prevent falls and breaks, research shows activities that put stress on bones, such as stair walking, brisk walking, running, skipping and other weight bearing exercises, can activate bones to become denser and stronger, and help to slow any age-related bone loss.⁵

It takes body builders years of intensive training and nutritional support to build big muscles. What consistent strength training can do is reduce your overall body fat and increase your muscle mass, resulting in a more toned physique.⁶

A kilo is a kilo, whether we’re talking muscle or fat. But because muscle is denser it takes up less space on your body. This might result in the scales showing you weigh slightly more, while at the same time your clothes fit better.

This is a bit like saying your tea will turn to coffee if you use the same cup. Muscle and fat are 2 completely different structures of cells, and one can’t magically turn into the other. If you stop training your muscles may decrease in size, but they won’t turn into fat.⁷ However, it is true that as we age our metabolism can slow down and we may be more prone to gaining weight even if we eat the same amount, making regular exercise even more important.⁸

Healthy Bones Australia have examples of exercises that help build stronger bones and bodies, all of which are suitable for beginners, plus resources on how to help reduce your risk of osteoporosis.

The Australasian Menopause Society has information on the link between menopause and osteoporosis and where to get help.