Why Women Over 30 Need to Start Lifting Weights Now | E21

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Welcome back to Train Like a Girl. My name is Abby. I'm a women's health and fitness coach and I'm here to bring you the no BS approach to health and fitness and true health and fitness. Not the extremes and not the bullshit that we see online. And today, I honestly cannot believe I've not brought this topic to the podcast yet because it is the topic that underpins absolutely everything I do with my one-to-one clients. So it seems bizarre that I've not brought it to the podcast yet. But I guess I just thought it was a bit too obvious. But I'm wrong because there are so many women, especially women over 30, that still don't appreciate or quite understand the importance of this topic. So today we're talking about why strength training for women, especially women over 30, it's it's not an option. It is you you should you should be doing it. So I want to talk about this because it's something that I feel like so many of us need to hear. Strength training is not optional. And I don't say that in a fear-based, like, you must lurk a certain way kind of way. I say it because of what actually starts changing in the female body after the age of 30 and what most women are never really told about in late until later life. And I think this topic is so important because we are getting this research now. So for our grandmas, they didn't have this information. They were taught, and I think it sadly still trickles down into our generations too, but they were taught that lifting weights was for men and lifting weights will make you bulky. And they so now we're getting the correct information coming through. It needs to be more widely spread because I still, as I said, I still think that that messaging is sadly being trickled down, especially in this new era of skinny is best again, that seems to have sort of resurfaced with the rise of GLP ones and all of that stuff. Not slitting GLP ones, topic for another time, but this is just going to be all about strength training and how crucial it actually is and why. So for all women, but particularly those over 30, a few key things gradually start to shift. So from the age of 30, we already naturally begin to lose muscle mass if we're not actively trying to maintain it. Big if. So they are not helping our later life. But the the tricky thing here is we don't care about our later life. If somebody tries to sell you something that is gonna benefit you in 20 years' time, it's kind of like, uh, I'll I'll kick the stone down the road. But the thing we really need to drive home here is we the sooner you start the better in this case. Because as I said, from 30, these things are naturally declining. So the sooner, like the best time to start is now. So more cardio, less food is really not the correct strategy. There's nothing wrong with those things for their purpose, the purpose that they serve, but they really are not protecting the systems that matter most long term. They're not building muscle, they do not support bone density, and they don't increase your resilience. So you can end up smaller, maybe, but you are also gonna end up weaker, more fragile, and more injury prone over time. So this isn't me shitting on cardio or dieting, and I definitely think there is a place for those things. But here's why strength training is the most important. And the reason it matters for your everyday life. Not only does it make you look great over the years, but let's just give you an example: bone density. So I'm not when I say bone density starts to decline, I'm not talking about something abstract like a scan years down the line. I'm talking about, let's let's think about this practically. How does it look? Decline in bone density might look like, if we don't do anything about it, tripping on an uneven pavement and fracturing a wrist instead of just bruising it. It might look like slipping in the kitchen or the bathroom and sustaining a hip injury. It might be sneezing, I'm not even joking here, it might be sneezing or coughing hard enough later in life that it causes rib pain or stress injuries because bone density is that low. These are real examples and real scenarios that doctors see far more often in older women with low bone density. And the frustrating part is so many of these issues are preventable. But when most of us are not doing the things necessary. The things, strength training, muscle mass. Without strength training, we can't optimally build muscle mass. And I'm not talking about Arnie Schwartz levels of muscle mass here. Like it doesn't, and in fact, I would argue that the optimal amount of muscle mass that we would need actually probably looks pretty hot, to be honest. I think there's a big stigma around like, oh, we've got to build loads of muscle, we're gonna look really bulky. Topic for another time, but that in itself is so frustrating because if it was easy to get bulky, do you think the gym girls would still be going to the gym four or five days a week in an effort to build muscle? It is so hard to build muscle tissue, which is why it's not gonna happen by accident in your Pilates classes. And I'm not being rude, like it is just fact. Without strength training, we can't build decent muscle mass. And if we're not building decent muscle mass, everyday tasks over your lifespan will start to become really hard. So things like some more kind of practical examples for you, carrying your groceries, um, lifting luggage. You know, if you're getting on a plane and you need to pop your suitcase in the overhead cabin, you know, playing with your kids, running around after your kids, get getting up and down from the floor with your grandkids. Maybe you were thinking that far ahead. And it's hard to apply this now, I get it, because it's we don't see we don't see a fast decline here. It's not dramatic, it's just subtle. Um and it's easy to just be like, oh, I'll do that later. But those I'll do that later decisions, they add up over time. And as I said, the sooner you start, the better. And it doesn't have to be extreme, and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But some more practical examples for you joints and balance, strength training will protect things like coordination, joint stability, and these things matter so much. Think about it, think about your old lady self if you fall over. If you don't have that stability there and that coordination and joint stability and muscle mass when you're older, a fall suddenly becomes more than just a fall, right? It can be the difference between full independence and a loss of your independence, longer recovery periods. So hopefully that gives you a bit of an impression of why strength training is so important. Because truthfully, I often think about it like if a doctor told you at the age of 30 this, these will start these things will start happening, and there is a pill you can take to mitigate those things happening, you would take it. But the pill is strength training. So a lot of women I think that start to work with me, they often come in wanting to do the fun, exciting hip workouts and the running. And whilst there is space for that, and I've got lots of clients that do that stuff, I always like to remind women how important it actually is to strength train. Because, in my opinion, it's not optional and it's not just aesthetic focused, right? It's not something you do just to get toned or whatever, but realistically, it's actually closer to a long-term health investment, and it doesn't, as I said, it doesn't have to be bodybuilder level, it's just about consistent resistance training that challenges your muscles over time. Because, and we could go, we could go into the depths of how that looks, but your body adapts to what you repeatedly do. So it's about implementing a structure and uh a training plan that you can repeat week after week and slowly get stronger. So it's not like I'm gonna ask you to go in and start lifting 50 kgs straight off the bat. It's a slow progression that you will repeat over time and challenge your muscles. So it's relative to your strength, right? You can go and look at my listen to my other podcasts on progressive overload and all of that kind of thing if you're interested more in the nuances of how strength training works. But if you don't challenge your muscles, your body has no reason to maintain them or or build on them. So without strength training, we don't get that protection against this decline of muscle mass and the risks that that raises long term. So, what does strength training actually do? When done consistently and with a good repeatable plan, that doesn't necessarily have to be in a gym, it could just be from home. You know, there's so many adaptable things that we can we can add in here, and that's what I do with my one-to-one clients. That's why coaching is so special because I will adapt it completely to that person's needs if they've got kids and you can only do half an hour or whatever. But when it's done consistently and with a plan that suits you, that you know you can stick to, whether that's two times a week, four times a week, whatever, it can help maintain and build muscle mass, increase bone density, improve balance and coordination, it can support your joint health, it can improve your metabolic health, which is so exciting because it means we can eat more calories at rest. We can eat more calories and maintain the same weight if we've got more muscle mass. But crucially, I guess the umbrella is it reduces injury risk in your everyday life and improves your health for long term. But I think the biggest shift is it keeps you capable. So it's not just about being fit, it's not about being lean, although those things could come as a byproduct product. It makes you capable. So if you are a woman over 30 and you've been treating strength training a little bit like it's something that's optional, something that you'll maybe get into eventually, or maybe you do a strength training session every now and then because you see something pop up on TikTok and it looks exciting and then you never do it again. I just want to gently challenge that. And I want to gently challenge your ideas around strength training and what you think it looks like because it's not just about aesthetics, and I'm gonna say one more time, you ain't gonna get bulky by accident. It is, and and truthfully, it is the only training stimulus that is truly gonna help with these with these problems. It's about staying strong, stable, and independent in your body for as long as possible. So the earlier you start building that foundation, the more you will protect your future self. If you have absolutely no idea where to start, or if you want some guidance around how to start strength training, that is what I do with my one-to-one clients. So I will pop my notes in the show notes. You've got my Instagram link there too, if you want to send me a message, and I'll also pop in an inquiry form about how to work with me. So, hope this was helpful, you guys. I'm glad to have finally done a little episode on the most important topic of all time, and I will see you again next week.