By Helen Chow, ND, Dip Herb, UK-qualified Naturopath & Herbalist,
Nutrition & Food Design Coach, Designer Realities Mind Coach
Originally published March 10, 2017. Reviewed & Updated October 9, 2026

You may be 47 and juggling work, family and ageing parents.

You may be 55 and suddenly noticing that your body does not respond quite as it did ten years ago.

Or perhaps you are 63, still working, travelling, building a business, planning adventures and wondering what you can do now to make sure you remain strong enough to enjoy all of it.

That is the woman I want to talk to in this article.

Because muscle health in midlife is not really about becoming a gym fanatic.

It is not about trying to look 25.

And it certainly is not about preparing yourself to become a frail “senior”.

It is about something much more useful: building and protecting the physical strength you will need for the next 20 or 30 years of your life.

Your muscles help you climb stairs, carry a suitcase through an airport, lift shopping bags, garden, hike, get up from the floor, move furniture, play with children and grandchildren, protect your joints and continue doing things for yourself.

And muscle becomes increasingly valuable during our 40s, 50s and 60s.

So let’s look at what is happening — and, more importantly, what you can do about it.

Why muscle deserves your attention in midlife

Many women start thinking seriously about bone health around menopause.

That makes sense. Hormonal changes can accelerate bone loss, which is why I have written separately about bone health after 50.

But your bones are only part of the story.

Muscles, bones, joints, balance and movement all work together.

Strong muscles help you produce force, stabilise joints and perform everyday movements. Resistance exercise also places useful mechanical stress on your bones.

So rather than thinking: bones over here, muscles over there, joints somewhere else

I would like you to think of them as one interconnected system.

You want the whole system to stay capable.

That is why maintaining strength is one of the smartest investments a woman can make during midlife.

What changes through your 40s, 50s and 60s

Muscle does not suddenly disappear on your 50th birthday.

Changes develop gradually and are influenced by several things: ageing, hormones, physical activity, nutrition, illness, sleep, stress and simply how much we use our muscles.

A woman who strength trains regularly at 60 may be considerably stronger than a sedentary woman twenty years younger.

That distinction matters.

Age influences muscle health, but age does not dictate what you are capable of.

Researchers use the term sarcopenia for clinically important loss of muscle strength, muscle quantity and physical performance.

You do not need to wait until sarcopenia becomes a medical concern before paying attention.

Midlife is actually a very good time to act.

You may notice small signals first: lifting something feels heavier than it used to, you use your hands to push yourself out of a low chair, your grip is weaker, or you avoid tasks that require lifting.

Those are useful reminders.

They are not instructions to give up.

Resistance training can meaningfully improve muscular strength in women both before and after menopause. Recent research continues to reinforce that women remain highly responsive to strength training across the lifespan.[1][2][3]

Menopause is part of the picture — but not the whole story

Menopause deserves attention, but I do not want us blaming every physical change after 45 on hormones.

During the menopausal transition, changes in oestrogen overlap with changes in body composition, sleep, stress, activity and lifestyle.

You may also notice that fat distribution begins to change or that maintaining muscle requires a little more deliberate effort.

But this is where the story becomes encouraging.

Resistance training works.

Studies in postmenopausal women show meaningful improvements in upper- and lower-body strength following resistance exercise.[3]

So the useful question is not: “What is menopause doing to me?”

It is: “What can I deliberately do now to build the body I want for the decades ahead?”

That shift matters. You are not powerless in this process.

Strength training is not just for gym people

The words strength training sometimes conjure up images of bodybuilders lifting enormous weights.

Forget that picture. Strength training simply means asking your muscles to work against resistance.

• Save

That resistance can come from:

• dumbbells
• barbells — the long bar with weights at either end
• resistance bands
• weight machines
• kettlebells
• your own body weight
• loaded carries
• appropriately challenging Pilates or yoga movements
• everyday activities such as lifting and carrying.

Yes — lifting a barbell is resistance training.

So is lifting a pair of dumbbells.

So is performing a controlled squat or repeatedly standing up from a chair.

What matters is that your muscles are being asked to produce force against a challenge.

UK physical-activity guidance recommends that adults perform muscle-strengthening activity involving the major muscle groups on at least two days each week.[1]

You do not have to spend hours exercising every day.

You do need to give your muscles a reason to stay strong.

You do not need to start heavy

If you have never lifted weights before, this is not an invitation to walk into a gym tomorrow and load a barbell with everything you can find.

Strength develops progressively. Start with resistance that allows you to perform a movement with good control. As your body adapts, the exercise should gradually become more challenging.

You might:

• increase the resistance
• perform another repetition
• progress from a simple movement to a more demanding variation
• improve your technique and range of movement

The principle is progressive resistance.

Your muscles need an appropriate challenge if you want them to adapt. That challenge does not have to be extreme.

And if you already strength train, do not assume that pink one-kilogram dumbbells must remain your lifelong limit simply because you are a woman over 50.

Women can become substantially stronger at this age.[2][3]

Walking is wonderful — but it does a different job

Please keep walking. Walking is excellent.

It gets you outside, supports cardiovascular fitness, keeps you moving, helps maintain mobility and can be wonderful for your head as well as your body.

But walking and strength training do different jobs.

Walking does not necessarily provide sufficient resistance to preserve or increase strength throughout the whole body.

So rather than asking: “Should I walk or lift weights?”

think: “How can I include both?”

• Walk
• Hike
• Cycle
• Dance
• Swim
• Include resistance exercise as well

Our Health Sifu article on exercise after 50 and metabolic health explains why movement also matters for blood glucose, insulin sensitivity and metabolic health.

The goal is not to find one magical type of exercise. It is to build a body that does lots of useful things well.

Your muscles, bones and joints work as a team

One reason I consider strength training so important is that stronger muscles support much more than muscles.

Take your knees.

The muscles surrounding your knee help control movement and support the joint.

That does not mean every type of strengthening exercise is appropriate for every painful knee, but it does mean abandoning movement completely is rarely a useful long-term strategy.

If your knees are troublesome, read How to Take Care of Your Knees After 50.

If you have joint discomfort more generally, our exercises for people with joint pain article explains how movement can be adapted to your present ability.

And if you are dealing specifically with osteoarthritis, see Osteoarthritis After 50: Symptoms, Diagnosis & How to Manage It.

You do not strengthen muscles in isolation. You are building a stronger movement system.

Strength is useful long before old age

This is one place where I want to change the conversation around healthy ageing.

We often talk about strength and balance only when discussing people in their 70s and 80s.

Why wait? If you begin building strength at 45, 50 or 55, you are entering your later decades from a very different starting point.

Think about what you want to be doing at 65.

• Travelling?
• Walking around European cities?
• Hiking?
• Gardening?
• Managing your own home?
• Working?
• Running a business?
• Playing golf or tennis?
• Carrying your own suitcase?
• Getting up from the floor without somebody hauling you upright?

That future version of you is being built partly by what you do now.

Our cornerstone article Healthy Ageing for Women: Build Your Next 20 Years explores exactly this idea.

Healthy ageing is not about sitting quietly waiting to become old. It is about maintaining options. Strength gives you options.

Muscle matters if you want to lose body fat

This is particularly important for the women who will eventually join Reclaim.

When you want to lose weight, it is very easy to become fixated on one number: the scales. But the scales cannot tell you whether the weight you have lost came from fat, muscle, water or some combination.

That distinction becomes increasingly important in midlife. The goal should not simply be: lose as much weight as possible.

A much better goal is: reduce excess body fat while preserving as much valuable lean tissue as possible.

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that adding resistance exercise during dietary weight loss helped protect fat-free mass, increased fat loss and improved muscular strength compared with dieting alone.[4]

That is exactly why resistance training belongs in a sensible midlife weight-management programme.

You do not want simply to become smaller. You want to emerge from weight loss leaner, stronger and metabolically healthier.

And that principle will be central to Reclaim.

Protein gives your muscles something to work with

Resistance exercise provides the stimulus.

Food provides the building materials.

Protein supplies amino acids needed for the maintenance and repair of body tissues, including muscle.

This does not mean you need to live on protein shakes. It does mean that the old pattern of coffee for breakfast, a tiny salad at lunch and then wondering why you are hungry and undernourished by late afternoon may not be serving you particularly well.

Build meals around a meaningful source of protein. Depending on your preferences, that might include:

• eggs
• fish
• poultry
• meat
• Greek yoghurt
• cottage cheese
• tofu
• tempeh
• beans
• lentils
• other suitable protein foods.

Then build the rest of the meal around foods that suit your health, appetite, culture and metabolic needs.

If you want to go deeper into this subject, read Protein After 50: How Much Do Women Need?.

Protein and resistance training make a very useful partnership. One supplies the stimulus. The other supplies the raw materials.

• Save

Five movements worth being able to do

You do not need twenty-seven complicated exercises. Instead, think about the movements that help you live well.

• Can you comfortably sit down and stand up?
• Can you push?
• Can you pull?
• Can you lift something safely?
• Can you carry something?
• Can you step up?
• Can you control your body as you lower yourself back down?

A simple strength programme can be built around these basic patterns. For example, depending on your fitness and health:

• a squat or sit-to-standa wall or bench press-up
• a dumbbell or resistance-band row
• a hip-hinge movement
• a loaded carry
• a step-up
• calf raises

You can make these movements easier or harder.

The programme should meet you where you are.

Then progress from there.

How often should you strength train?

For most generally healthy adults, a very practical starting target is at least two strength sessions each week, covering the major muscle groups.[1]

That does not mean two hours. Nor does it mean you must join a gym.

A focused home session can be useful if the exercises provide sufficient resistance.

Some women enjoy training three times a week. Others combine two strength sessions with walking, swimming, cycling, yoga or other activity.

The best programme is not the programme that looks most impressive on Instagram. It is the one you can perform safely, progressively and consistently.

Consistency beats occasional heroics. Every time.

What if you are starting from zero?

Then zero is simply your starting point. It is not your identity.

Begin sensibly.

• Perhaps you start with body-weight movements and light resistance.
• Perhaps you book a few sessions with a qualified trainer who understands women in midlife.
• Perhaps you begin at home.
• Perhaps joint pain means your programme requires modification.

That is fine. You do not have to compete with the woman beside you. And you certainly do not have to compete with your 25-year-old self.

You are training for your future body and your future life.

When should you get individual advice?

Most women can benefit from some form of resistance exercise, but not every programme is appropriate for every person.

Get individual professional guidance before starting or substantially increasing strength training if you have a recent fracture or operation, significant osteoporosis, serious cardiovascular or respiratory disease, uncontrolled blood pressure, major balance problems, unexplained muscle weakness, neurological symptoms or another condition for which your clinician has advised exercise restrictions.

Likewise, chest pain, fainting or severe unexplained breathlessness during exercise needs appropriate medical assessment.

Exercise should build your capacity. It should not involve ignoring warning signs.

Health Sifu note: build strength for the life you want

I want us to stop talking to women in their 40s, 50s and 60s as though the most exciting part of life is behind them.

For many women, these decades are a reset.

• Children may be becoming independent.
• Careers may be changing.
• Businesses are being built.
• Relationships evolve.
• We travel.
• We learn.
• We reinvent ourselves.
• Certain of us are simultaneously looking after ageing parents.

That is precisely why we need our own bodies to remain strong.

You do not need enormous muscles. You do not need to become a bodybuilder. You need enough strength to support the life you want.

• Enough to lift.
• Enough to carry.
• Enough to travel.
• Enough to walk confidently.
• Enough to protect your bones and joints.
• Enough to keep doing things for yourself.

And enough to arrive at 65 thinking: “Good. I still have a lot I want to do.”

That is what muscle health in midlife is really about.

• Save

Scientific references and further reading

These are the external links. I would keep them here at the bottom and remove external hyperlinks from the body.

1. UK Chief Medical Officers — Physical activity guidelines for adults and older adults. Adults should include muscle-strengthening work involving the major muscle groups on at least two days each week. GOV.UK
   UK physical activity guidelines
2. American College of Sports Medicine — 2026 position stand on resistance training. The updated evidence review covers resistance exercise for muscular function, hypertrophy and physical performance in healthy adults. ACSM
   ACSM resistance-training position stand
3. Resistance training in women before and after menopause — systematic reviews/meta-analyses. Resistance training improves strength in women, including postmenopausal women; a 2024 review found significant improvements in upper- and lower-body strength. PubMed
   2024 systematic review — PubMed
   Women across the lifespan — PubMed
4. Resistance exercise during dietary weight loss — 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis. Adding resistance exercise helped preserve fat-free mass and improve strength during dietary weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity. PubMed
   Resistance exercise during weight loss — PubMed
5. GOV.UK — Musculoskeletal health. Government guidance discusses strength training and maintaining muscle health, including the prevention of age-related muscle loss. GOV.UK
   Musculoskeletal health guidance

Subscribe & Read My eHealth Letters *

Click Here

Do follow and like us! 🙂

• Save